Inflammation: from molecular biology to clinic

The 3rd World Congress on Inflammation reflected an emphasis on cytokines and cell signaling, but also provided an overview of some of the current hot topics in inflammation research. The chemokines are an exponential growth area for researchers in several fields, and chemokine antagonists are under study for potential use in inflammatory disease. The use of soluble receptors, antibodies and gene deletion has already validated a number of new approaches, notably those targeted at TNF-alpha, IL-8 and, as revealed at this meeting, IL-6, NFkappaB and AP-1. The pharmacological regulation of apoptosis for disease therapy is also becoming a possibility. It is probable that within the next 12 months a number of small-molecule synthetic compounds will be reported as likely candidates for future antiinflammatory agents. The marketing of specific COX-2 inhibitors is likely to provide a significant step forward in therapeutic tolerability. Gene therapy for inflammation still lies several years in the future, but initial clinical studies are under way.