Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist gene therapy for arthritis.

Rheumtatoid arthritis (RA) is a crippling, autoimmune disease, and is characterized by inflammation and destruction of joint tissue. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) has been identified as a key pro-inflammatory cytokine responsible for inflammation. One of the mechanisms of regulation of activity of IL-1 is IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra)-mediated: IL-1RA competes with IL-1 for binding to the IL-1 receptor. Significant progress has been made in the potential application of IL-1ra gene therapyfor the treatment of arthritis. Various vectors have been tested for the delivery of the IL-1ra gene to the intra-articular region. Recent studies in humans have provided encouraging prospects for IL-1ra-mediated arthritis gene therapy.