Inflammatory joint disease: the role of cytokines, cyclooxygenases and reactive oxygen species.

Cytokines are known to have a key role in the onset and development of inflammatory joint disease, including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. The effects of some cytokines on the cells and tissues involved in inflammation of the joint are well catalogued, but recent discoveries of new cytokines, and interest in intracellular signalling molecules, have thrown new light on the way in which cytokines mediate the cellular responses that lead to inflammation. Here, recent work on the roles of cytokines, cyclooxygenases, nitric oxide and other reactive oxygen species, in the cellular pathways that lead from cytokine receptor to inflammation, are discussed.