Interleukin‐6 as a Therapeutic Target in Candidate Inflammatory Diseases

Interleukin (IL)‐6 is a multifunctional cytokine that regulates immune response, inflammation, and hematopoiesis. Although IL‐6 plays several important physiological roles, deregulated overproduction of IL‐6 causes various clinical symptoms and abnormalities in laboratory test results. Overproduction of IL‐6 has been shown to underlie a number of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic‐onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (soJIA), and Castleman's disease, as well as malignancies such as multiple myeloma and mesothelioma. Blocking of IL‐6 signaling may be therapeutic in diseases characterized by pathological IL‐6 overproduction. This review provides an overview of IL‐6 as a therapeutic target in candidate inflammatory diseases.

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