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Updated: Aug 24, 2026

An Adoptive Transfer Model of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Mice
Published on: June 6, 2025
Interleukin-18 and the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis
1Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, 4200 East Ninth Avenue, B168, Denver, CO 80262, USA.
Abstract:
Interleukin (IL)-18 is a new member of the IL-1 family of proinflammatory cytokines. Based on preclinical studies in animals, IL-18 likely plays a role in rheumatoid arthritis, and strategies to block IL-18 activity are underway in clinical trials. In one of these trials,a naturally occurring IL-18 binding protein (IL-18 BP) binds IL-18 with a high affinity and reduces disease severity in models of inflammatory diseases. IL-18 BP is not the soluble receptor for IL-18 but rather a distinct molecule, which appears to be distantly related to the IL-1 receptor type II, both structurally and functionally, and hence represents part of the IL-1 family of receptors.
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