New strategies to control inflammatory synovitis: interleukin 15 and beyond

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Abstract
Our group has recently sought mechanisms whereby innate and acquired immune responses interact during chronic inflammation, with particular emphasis on cytokine biology. Many cytokines present within the synovium derive from macrophages and synovial fibroblasts.3 IL15, a cytokine with structural similarities to IL2,4 is produced primarily by macrophages and as such attracted our attention at an early stage as a potential regulator of synovial inflammation. It is now clear that IL15 exhibits plausible biological effector function, is detectable in inflamed synovial tissues and, finally, when suppressed in rodent models of articular inflammation offers therapeutic utility.