Anti-CD40 allays rheumatoid arthritis in mice

Monoclonal antibodies to CD40–a cell-surface component of monocytes, dendritic cells, and B lymphocytes–limit disease progression and reduce the severity of chronic inflammation in transgenic mice that normally develop a chronic, relapsing, collagen-induced arthritis after immunisation with collagen type II. “The finding is a surprise”, reports author Marco Londei (Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Imperial College School of Medicine, London, UK), “since the same agonistic monoclonal to CD40 has previously been shown to promote antigen-specific immunotherapy for cancer and to be essential in generating a protective immune response against B-cell lymphomas”.