Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) therapy is aimed at achieving a remission or at least at low activity of the disease through modifying drugs (csDMARD). After its failure, biological therapy (bDMARD) is used.
The development of bDMARD is based on the knowledge of pathogenesis of RA and the drugs are targeted against individual inflammatory molecules. Interleukin 6 (IL-6) plays an important role in the occurrence and persistence of chronic inflammatory response, which is associated with a wide range of RA manifestations, especially with the development of joint damage.
Elevated levels of IL-6 were detected not only in serum but also in the joint fluid of patients with RA. Sarilumab is a new IL-6 targeted monoclonal antibody designed to treat active RA in which previous treatment modalities have failed.