Immunometabolism and rheumatic disease-advancing targeted therapies

Because so many pathways of intermediary metabolism are shared between immune cells and those essential for mammalian life, the possibility of targeting immunometabolism to treat rheumatic diseases long seemed fraught with risk. However, the discovery that targeting receptor-ligand interactions of general importance in immunity (for instance, inflammatory cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor alpha could yield favourable therapeutic windows revolutionised the treatment of inflammatory rheumatic diseases. This synopsis will first define 2 distinct but partially overlapping meanings of immunometabolism. Next, evidence of successes-already achieved or emerging-will be reviewed. Finally, a selected set of research results that offer hopes of future targeting of therapies will be presented.