Expert review of clinical immunology
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Expert Rev Clin Immunol · Nov 2014
ReviewIdiopathic recurrent pericarditis as an immune-mediated disease: current insights into pathogenesis and emerging treatment options.
Idiopathic recurrent pericarditis affects 30-50% of patients with a previous attack of pericarditis. The etiopathogenesis is incompletely understood and most cases remain idiopathic with a presumed immune-mediated pathogenesis. The mainstay of therapy is aspirin or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug plus colchicine and the possible adjunct of a low-to-moderate dose of a corticosteroid in more difficult cases. ⋯ The outcome of idiopathic recurrent pericarditis is good with a negligible risk of developing constrictive pericarditis. Thus, it is important to reassure patients on their prognosis, explaining the nature of the disease and the likely course. Moreover, therapeutic choices should include less toxic agents and favor cheaper drugs whenever possible.
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Expert Rev Clin Immunol · Nov 2014
ReviewCanakinumab for the treatment of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
The introduction of methotrexate in the 1980s and of TNF-inhibiting agents and abatacept in the late 1990s led to a dramatic improvement in the outcomes of non-systemic categories of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. By contrast, the same treatment approaches had no strong impact on the outcome of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA), and the main effective treatment in these patients remained glucocorticoids with their known side effects. Encouraging findings in small studies involving SJIA patients treated with IL-1 and IL-6 inhibitors led to large Phase III trials, and the results in these trials provide hope that substantial joint damage and disability seen in the majority of patients with persistent SJIA can be prevented. The purpose of this review is to discuss the safety and efficacy of the IL-1 and IL-6 inhibiting agents in SJIA with the main focus on canakinumab, a fully human monoclonal anti-IL-1β antibody.