A prospective study was carried out on 31 healthy individuals and 32 patients with rheumatoid arthritis at the Military Hospital N0 103 and the Enterology Department of the Police Hospital N0 198. The results showed that: in the patient group, there were increases of number of white blood cells, and lymphocytes, as compared to the control group (p<0.001); there was also wide fluctuation of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-), from 22.41 pg/ml to 1341.62pg/ml. 75% patients had concentration of rheumatoid factor RF≥8 IU/ml (positive). There were agreeable correlations between the number of lymphocytes T, Ta with lymphocytes B at rate r=0.64 (p<0.05); between the number and percentage of Ta-cell with serum concentration of rheumatoid factor (RF) in the patients at low level of r=0.24 and r=0.33
Arthritis, Rheumatoid, Immunologic Factors

Biotherapy, often called biological therapy or immunotherapy, aims at supporting and helping in the treatment of human disease without chemical drugs and invasive therapies, by restoring the natural immune system. It is also used to reduce certain side effects that may be caused by some treatments against cancer, autoimmune diseases, or other diseases. Biotherapy employs substances called biological response modifiers (BRMs). The term BRM is often used synonymously with the terms immunomodulator and immunostimulant. BRMs are agents that modify the host's response to pathogens with resultant beneficial prophylactic or therapeutic effects. The use of BRMs had rapidly expanded since the introduction of the first diagnostic antibodies. They are now employed in oncology, autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases, and transplantation medicine. BRMs used in biological therapy include interferones, interleukins, colony-stimulating factors, monoclonal antibodies, differentiation agents, tyrosine kinase inhibitor, tumor necrosis factor, vaccines, and nonspecific immunomodulating agents. BRMs are widely accepted in the treatment of certain types of cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, while others are being tested in research studies. This article reviewed the clinical use and side effects of BRMs in cancer and other diseases.
Antibodies ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Biological Therapy ; Colony-Stimulating Factors ; Humans ; Immune System ; Immunologic Factors ; Immunotherapy ; Interferons ; Interleukins ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Rheumatic Diseases ; Transplants ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Vaccines

OBJECTIVETo investigate the therapeutic effects of Sanwushaoxie decoction on alternations of serum cytokines in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

METHODSixty-three (63) RA patients were selected and randomly divided into 2 groups, with the treatment group administered with Sanwushaoxie decoction, one prescription, 2 times a day, while patients in the control group were given Common Threewingnut Root polyglycoside 20 mg a time, 3 times a day. The treatment was lasted for 60 days. Serum concentrations of IL-6, TNF-alpha, IL-4, IL-10 were observed during the treatment.

RESULTThe clinical effecacy and the experimental indexes were significantly improved in the treatment group than those did in the control group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). There were significant differences of serum levels of 4 cytokines within the treatment group before and after the treatment (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). The serum levels of IL-4, IL-10 were significantly increased in treatment group compared with those did in the control group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSanwushaoxie decoction is an effective agent in regulating cytokines, improving symptoms and experimental indexes in patients with RA.

Antirheumatic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; blood ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Cells, Cultured ; Cytokines ; blood ; Humans ; Immunologic Factors ; blood ; Interleukin-10 ; blood ; Interleukin-18 ; blood ; Interleukin-4 ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Prescriptions ; Prognosis ; Reference Values ; Severity of Illness Index ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood

Rheumatoid arthritis is a common and potentially devastating condition which did not have good treatment options until recently. Pharmacological treatment should not just comprise antiinflammatory agents and corticosteroids. The current therapeutic approach is to start a disease modifying agent early in the illness to prevent eventual joint damage. Older disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) include methotrexate, sulphasalazine and hydroxychloroquine. Newer ones such as leflunomide and cyclosporine are also used. A recent advance in the management of rheumatoid arthritis is the use of biological agents which block certain key molecules involved in the pathogenesis of the illness. They include tumour necrosis factor (TNF)- blocking agents such as infliximab, etanercept and adalimumab, the anti-CD 20 agent rituximab and CTLA-4 Ig abatacept. Other agents which are in development include anti-IL6 tocilizumab, anti-CD22 and anti-lymphostat B. In this review, the efficacy and side effects of these agents, their impact on current clinical practice and future trends are discussed.
Abatacept ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; therapeutic use ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; Antirheumatic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; immunology ; therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Humans ; Immunoconjugates ; therapeutic use ; Immunologic Factors ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Remission Induction ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; antagonists & inhibitors