New therapeutic approaches to autoimmune diseases

Over the post decade, new biological therapies have been developed to treat systemic autoimmune diseases. These new treatments, which target various steps of the immune response, include: - B lymphocyte (BL) inhibitors, such as anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies, BlyS antagonists, and tolerogens that inhibit specific BLs that produce pathogenic antibodies. - Inhibitors of costimulation between antigen-presenting cells and T lymphocytes (TL), such as monoclonal antibodies against CD40 ligand and CTLA4-Ig (abatecept); - TL antagonists, which can inhibit proliferation of autoreactive T cells, (.) - cytokine antagonists; - chemokine and adhesin antagonists, which inhibit trafficking of immunocompetent cells to target organs. These new approaches ore based on a deeper understanding of the autoimmune response.