Aryl hydrocarbon receptor antagonism and its role in rheumatoid arthritis

Although rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common autoimmune disease, affecting approximately 1% of the population worldwide, its pathogenic mechanisms are poorly understood. Tobacco smoke, an environmental risk factor for RA, contains several ligands of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (Ahr), also known as dioxin receptor. Ahr plays critical roles in the immune system. We previously demonstrated that Ahr in helper T-cells contributes to development of collagen-induced arthritis, a mouse model of RA. Other studies have shown that cigarette smoke condensate and pure Ahr ligands exacerbate RA by altering bone metabolism and inducing proinflammatory responses in fibroblast-like synoviocytes. Consistent with these findings, several Ahr antagonists such as α-naphthoflavone, resveratrol, and GNF351 reverse the effect of Ahr ligands in RA pathogenesis. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of Ahr function in the immune system and the potential clinical benefits of Ahr antagonism in treating RA.

• Publication year

  2015

• Venue

  Journal of Experimental Pharmacology

• Publication date

  2015-12-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Chemistry, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.2147/JEP.S63549PMID 27186143PMCID 4863532
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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