Activin A: a potential therapeutic target for characterizing and stopping joint pain early in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

It is common for rheumatoid arthritis patients to suffer from persistent joint pain for decades during their lifetime. Activin A, a member of the transforming growth factor β superfamily, which plays a role in the very early phase of inflammatory processes, can also induce pain behaviors. In view of the contribution of synovial inflammation to the progression of rheumatoid arthritis, here we present the hypothesis that activin A may be a potential therapeutic target, serving as a marker for joint pain in which inflammatory processes are involved and as a target for early intervention.