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Author Spotlight: Evaluating Traditional Chinese Therapy for Ankylosing Spondylitis in Mice
Published on: October 27, 2023
Have Therapeutics Enhanced Our Knowledge of Axial Spondyloarthritis?
S R Harrison1,2, H Marzo-Ortega3
1The University of Leeds, Leeds Institute for Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine (LIRMM), NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, Leeds, UK.
Purpose Of Review:
An overview of how the treatment landscape of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) has shaped our understanding of the disease.
Recent Findings:
Prior to the millennium, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were the only treatment for axSpA, yet only 30% of patients responded and many developed side effects. In 2003, the first biological disease-modifying drug (bDMARD) was licensed for axSpA which substantially improved outcomes in comparison to NSAIDs. In 2022, there are now several bDMARDs for axSpA; however, they too are not universally efficacious in treating axial inflammation and may have deleterious effects on extramusculoskeletal manifestations. Nevertheless, successful or not, each bDMARD gives invaluable insight into axSpA immunobiology. This review discusses how much we have learned from the use of bDMARDs in axSpA, how this has redefined our understanding of the disease, and how we might use this knowledge to develop new and better treatments for axSpA in the future.
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