[New therapies for autoimmune diseases]

During the last decade, new biotherapies have been developed for the treatment of systemic autoimmune diseases. Targets of these new treatments are all the steps of the immune response. These new therapies are: B lymphocyte (BL) inhibitors such as anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, BLyS antagonists and tolerogens of pathogenic-antibody secreting LB; inhibitors of the costimulation between antigen-presenting cells and T lymphocyte (TL) like monoclonal anti-CD40 ligand antibody or CTLA4-Ig (abatecept); TL antagonists which can inhibit the proliferation of autoreactive T cells; cytokine antagonists; chemokine and adhesin antagonists which inhibit trafficking of immunocompetent cells to target organs. These new approaches are based on a better understanding of the autoimmune response.