IL-6 blockade therapy for inflammatory diseases: Current perspectives and future directions

Abstract

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a prototypical cytokine featuring pleiotropic and redundant activity. It is an essential factor to protect host from environmental stress and to maintain homeostasis, whereas its dysregulated, excessive or persistent production plays a pathological role in various inflammatory diseases. Then, IL-6 blockade was expected to become a novel therapeutic strategy and a humanized anti-IL-6 receptor antibody, tocilizumab was developed. Indeed, through clinical trials its efficacy and tolerable safety was proved and is now in clinical use for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis and Castleman’s disease. Moreover, ongoing various clinical studies suggest that it will be widely applicable for the treatment of intractable chronic immune-mediated diseases as well as acute severe inflammatory diseases presenting with “cytokine storm”.