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Updated: Mar 2, 2026

An Adoptive Transfer Model of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Mice
Published on: June 6, 2025
The role and therapeutic targeting of IL-6 in rheumatoid arthritis
Masashi Narazaki1,2, Toshio Tanaka2,3, Tadamitsu Kishimoto4
1a Department of Respiratory Medicine, Allergy and Rheumatic Diseases, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine , Osaka University , Osaka , Japan.
Introduction:
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune chronic disease with joint and systemic inflammation and it has been found that interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays a key role in RA. Indeed, various clinical studies have proved that the first-in-class IL-6 inhibitor, tocilizumab, a humanized anti-IL-6 receptor monoclonal antibody, showed outstanding efficacy in RA. Areas covered: We review here the role of IL-6 in the inflammatory conditions and how IL-6 contributes to pathogenesis of RA, what induces IL-6 and how IL-6 expression is regulated. Furthermore, clinical studies of tocilizumab for RA are summarized, Expert commentary: We review and discuss the prospects for future applications of IL-6 targeting therapy and new therapeutic strategies targeting IL-6. Finally, we discuss relevant issues with regard to the clinical management of IL-6 blockade in RA.
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