The Role of IL-33 in Rheumatic Diseases

Abstract EN

Interleukin-33 (IL-33), a novel member of IL-1 family, has been recently implicated in several inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

IL-33 can be produced by various types of tissues and cells and induce gene expression of Th2-associated cytokines via binding to the orphan receptor ST2.

By promoting Th2 type immune response, IL-33 plays important roles in the allergy, whereas its function in autoimmune diseases attracts more attention.

Recent studies reported the correlation of IL-33 with rheumatic diseases, and most of them found that the IL-33 expression levels were consistent with disease activity and development.

Furthermore, evidence has indicated that IL-33-related treatment may ameliorate the pathogenic conditions and attenuate disease progression of those rheumatic diseases.

Therefore, elucidation of the roles of IL-33 in rheumatic diseases would be beneficial to understand the pathogenesis and therapy of these diseases.

In this paper, we will summarize the roles of IL-33 in the rheumatic diseases.