Development of targeted therapeutic agents for systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

With the development of immunology and molecular-biology,great advances have been made in biological therapies targeted at the immunopathological mechanisms or directed against some targets in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the past decade.These biological agents,with belimumab as a representative,have offered a new approach to the treatment of SLE.At present,there are nearly 20 targeteddrugs for SLE that undergo preclinical research or clinical trials.According to the difference in action targets,they are mainly divided into seven categories:B-cell-targeted drugs,T-cell/costimulatory molecule-targeteddrugs,cytokine inhibitors,innate immunity-targeted drugs,tolerogens,inhibitors of cell surface receptors,and other targeted agents including monocyte chemoattractant protein 1/monocyte chemoattractant CC chemokineligand 2 inhibitors,N-acetyl cysteine,etc. Key words: Lupus erythematosus, systemic; Antibodies, monoclonal; Therapy