Transforming Growth Factor‐β in Rheumatoid Arthritis

TLDR: In this article, the authors reviewed data suggesting that transforming growth factor-p (TGF-p)4 is involved in the disease process and that, in particular, R3F-p appears to be involved in limiting synovial stromal connective tissue cell proliferation and driving the diseased tissues to fibrose/scar.

Abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a crippling and potentially fatal inflammatory disorder that primarily involves peripheral joints.'-3 It affects 1 to 2 % of the population in the United States. Although its clinical and pathological features are reasonably well described, the molecular mechanisms that regulate the development and progression of the disease process are incompletely understood. It is now clear, however, that a multitude of polypeptide growth factors and cytokines play critical roles in mediating communication amongst the cells involved in the pathogenesis of joint destruction. This article will review data suggesting that transforming growth factor-p (TGF-p)4 is involved in the disease process and that, in particular, R3F-p appears to be involved in limiting synovial stromal connective tissue cell proliferation and driving the diseased tissues to fibrose/scar.