Until recently, effector T helper (Th) cells have been classified into two subsets, Th1 and Th2 cells. Since the discovery of Th17 cells, which produce IL-17, much attention has been given to Th17 cells, mainly because they have been implicated in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory diseases. We have performed transcriptome analysis combined with factor analysis and revealed that the expre...

OBJECTIVE IL-23 is a pro-inflammatory cytokine proposed to be central to the development of autoimmune disease. We investigated whether IL-23, together with the downstream mediator IL-17A, was present and functional in RA in humans. METHODS RA synovial cells were cultured in the presence or absence of antibodies directed against IL-23p19 or -23R and -17. IL-23, -12, -17, and their receptors, ...

The interleukin-23 (IL-23) pathway plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of multiple chronic inflammatory disorders, however, inter-individual variability in IL-23-induced signal transduction in circulating human lymphocytes has not been well-defined. In this study, we observed marked, reproducible inter-individual differences in IL-23 responsiveness (measured by STAT3 phosphorylation) in p...

BACKGROUND Infliximab (IFX), an established therapy for pediatric Crohn disease (CD), is also efficacious in treating psoriasis, a skin disorder, in which tumor necrosis factor-α is implicated pathogenically. Paradoxically, there have been numerous reports of new-onset psoriasis following tumor necrosis factor-α antagonist therapy in adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease, but pediatric...

BACKGROUND The human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 gene is considered to be a major gene associated with predisposition to ankylosing spondylitis (AS); however, studies have demonstrated that non-HLA-B27 genes also contribute substantially to the susceptibility to AS. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs1004819 and rs10889677, of the interleukin-23 receptor (IL-23R) gene have been shown...

AIM To investigate genotype-phenotype correlations in patients with perianal Crohn's disease (PCD) in order to determine which factors predispose to development of perianal disease in Crohn's patients. METHODS Seven-hundred and ninety-five Caucasian individuals (317 CD patients and 478 controls without inflammatory bowel disease, IBD) were prospectively enrolled into a clinical/genetic databa...

INTRODUCTION Th17 cells have been implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to systematically analyse the phenotype, cytokine profile and frequency of interleukin-17 (IL-17) producing CD4-positive T cells in mononuclear cells isolated from peripheral blood, synovial fluid and synovial tissue of RA patients with established disease, and to correlate c...