Shima Yoshihito
a Department of Thermo-therapeutics for vascular dysfunction, Clinical Immunology , Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine , Osaka , Japan.
Mod Rheumatol. 2019 Mar;29(2):294-301. doi: 10.1080/14397595.2018.1559909. Epub 2019 Feb 6.
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease, the pathogenesis of which is thought to involve interleukin-6 (IL-6), an inflammatory cytokine. This is based on findings of its concentration in patient serum, the results of an IL-6 suppression experiment in an animal model, and the results of a pilot study using IL-6 receptor antibody. However, it appears that a number of factors are involved in the pathology of SSc depending on the state of disease progression. In addition, the degree of involvement of IL-6 differs depending on the difference of organs within particular severe symptoms. Based on the findings from measurements of patient serum, the influence of IL-6 on the pathogenesis of SSc is greater in patients at a relatively early phase of the disease and in patients with lung lesions. Interleukin-13 (IL-13) is one of pro-fibrotic factors, and it is afraid that SSc patients with higher IL-13 have already lost the influence of IL-6. Therefore, although a clinical trial using the anti-IL-6 receptor antibody tocilizumab is underway, it is important to recognize the state of SSc patients prior to selecting treatment.
系统性硬化症（SSc）是一种结缔组织疾病，其发病机制被认为涉及炎症细胞因子白细胞介素-6（IL-6）。这是基于患者血清中IL-6浓度的研究结果、动物模型中IL-6抑制实验的结果以及使用IL-6受体抗体的初步研究结果得出的。然而，根据疾病进展状态，似乎多种因素参与了SSc的病理过程。此外，在特定严重症状下，IL-6的参与程度因器官差异而有所不同。根据患者血清检测结果，IL-6对SSc发病机制的影响在疾病相对早期的患者和肺部病变患者中更大。白细胞介素-13（IL-13）是促纤维化因子之一，担心IL-13水平较高的SSc患者已经失去了IL-6的影响。因此，尽管正在进行使用抗IL-6受体抗体托珠单抗的临床试验，但在选择治疗之前了解SSc患者的状态很重要。
