B effector cells in rheumatoid arthritis and experimental arthritis

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune immune disease affecting approximately 1% of the population. There has been a renewed interest in the role of B cells in rheumatoid arthritis based on the evidence that B cell depletion therapy is effective in the treatment of disease. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the mechanisms by which B cells contribute to autoimmune arthritis including roles as autoantibody producing cells, antigen-presenting cells, cytokine producing cells, and regulatory cells.

Keywords::

• B cells
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• autoantibodies
• co-stimulation
• T cells

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by grants from NIH NIAMS A.F. R01AR04657 and R01AR056999. K.M.H is supported by NIHT32HL007605.

Declaration of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.