From bone biology to clinical outcome: state of the art and future perspectives.

In the last decade progress has been made in our understanding of bone biology. In particular, the relation between inflammation and bone has become much clearer, leading to bone-targeting therapies in inflammatory rheumatic diseases. The clinical sequelae of the influences of both inflammation and immobility (due to arthritis) on bone for different rheumatic diseases (such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and spondyloarthritides) have also now captured the attention of clinicians. In the last decade the well-known negative influences of glucocorticoids on bone have become more treatable as a result of new drugs that stimulate osteoblasts and restore the negative bone balance.