New pathogenetic insights into the sarcoid granuloma : Current Opinion in Rheumatology (original) (raw)
Systemic Disorders With Rheumatic Manifestations
Padua University School of Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Clinical Immunology, Padua, Italy
Correspondence to Carlo Agostini, MD, Università degli Studi di Padova, Dip. di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Immunologia Clinica, Via Giustiniani 2, 35128 PADOVA, Italy
Abstract
Although the most important enigma of sarcoidosis, ie, its etiology, remains an unsolved problem, the past few years have seen remarkable advances in understanding general immunologic and molecular aspects of the mechanisms leading to granuloma formation in sarcoidosis. It is now clear that during the sarcoid inflammatory process several cytokines are secreted at sites of disease activity; in addition, high affinity receptors for cytokines participating in the granuloma development have been recently identified. This article provides a detailed description of recent data that have clarified cellular interactions governing the dynamics of granuloma formation in sarcoidosis. Together, these new results provide important insights that can refocus efforts at developing immunotherapeutic methods of inhibiting cytokine production at sites of granuloma formation.
© 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.