The role of immune regulatory molecules in rheumatoid arthritis: Implication for etiopathogenesis and prospective for treatment

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is considered an autoimmune chronic disorder and the most common inflammatory arthropathy. Disease progression in RA begins with asymptomatic autoimmune responses in cases with a genetic or environmental predisposition, that alters to arthralgia phase as autoantibodies reach the joints and subjects begin demonstrating nonspecific musculoskeletal presentations lacking any clinical symptoms of synovial inflammation. After that, patients' symptoms develop to undifferentiated arthritis (UA)/idiopathic arthritis (IA) whenever the subjects progress to clinical synovitis systemic comorbidities affecting the vasculature, metabolism, and bone, and eventually with augmented immune cell infiltration, IA/UA patients progress to clinically classifiable RA. RA is mainly correlated with different immune cells and each of them contributes variously to the pathogenesis of the disease. The pathogenesis of RA is altered by the contribution of both T and B cells in an autoimmune irregularity. Modulation of the immune responses occurs through regulatory and inhibitory molecules that control activation of the adaptive system as well as immune hemostasis. To confine the exorbitant T cell-associated inflammatory reactions, the immune system provides a system of inhibitory feedbacks, collectively named immune checkpoints. In this review, we aimed to discuss about inhibitory members of immune checkpoint molecules, including programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/PD-L1, cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte-antigen-4, lymphocyte activation gene-3, T cell immunoglobulin-3, V-domain Ig suppressor of T cell activation, B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator, and T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain and their role in RA.

Automated summary

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune chronic disorder characterized by immune cell involvement, genetic predisposition, and inflammatory responses. The pathogenesis of RA is mainly regulated through autoimmune irregularity of T and B cells, with immune checkpoint molecules playing a crucial role in modulating immune responses.