A new interleukin to treat arthrites: anti-interleukin-6

Immunopathological aspects of interleukin-6 are analyzed, as well as the clinical use of tocilizumab, its safety and efficacy. Several studies have demonstrated that the blockade of interleukin-6 may bring a therapeutic benefit to rheumatoid arthritis patients. Tocilizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the cell and soluble receptor of interleukin-6 and it also changes the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor. Although its mechanism of action is not completely known to date various reports on medical literature show that its benefits are quite reliable and suggest that it will be a new anticitokine treatment for inflammatory arthritis.