Treatment of rheumatic diseases with biological and biosimilar drugs
A biological medicine is made from proteins or other substances produced by the body, it is used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, psoriasis and ankylosing spondylitis. Biosimilar drugs are a newer version of the original biological that work in the same way.
Biologics are administered by injection or infusion as they are proteins that are quickly digested and inactivated if given by mouth.
Important drugs in the group include:
- Infliximab - a TNF alpha inhibitor
- Etanercept - TNF receptor fusion protein
- Adalimumab - TNF alpha inhibitor
- Rituximab - Depletes B lymphocytes
- Certolizumab - TNF alpha inhibitor
- Tocilizumab - inhibits interleukin 6
- Abatacept - Attenuates T-lymphocyte activation
- Anakinra - Inhibits interleukin 1
These can be used for rheumatoid arthritis most commonly, but the first three can all be used for ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis as well. As can be seen, all of these drugs work by reducing the immune response by interacting with elements used in the bodys immune response. Many of these are monoclonal antibodies and have identical structures and affinities to the target.
Name stems of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies: -o- mouse (-omab), -xi- chimeric (-ximab), -zu- humanised (-zumab), -xizu- chimeric/humanised, -u- fully human (-umab). Red: human parts; blue: mouse parts.
Image: “Chimeric and humanized antibodies” by Antibody_je2.neutral.svg : Of this SVG version, Roland Geider ( Ogre ), of the original PNG version, User Je at uwo on e, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.