With the advent of biological therapies, considerable advances have been achieved in the
treatment of inflammatory arthritis. These have arisen primarily from studies elucidating
mechanisms of pathophysiology and are best exemplified in the wide use of tumour necrosis
factor (TNF) blockade in several rheumatic diseases. The identification of additional pro-
inflammatory factors in rheumatic diseases and an understanding of their effector function,
now offers major possibilities for the generation of novel therapeutics. To address unmet …