Anticuerpos monoclonales y el tratamiento del lupus eritematoso sistémico

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a chronic autoimmune disease that involves the production of certain antibodies throughout the body and the consequent inflammation of connective tissue, as well as skin, hematological, and cardiovascular conditions, among others. Postulates about its origin vary from a genetic to an environmental, an immunological or a hormonal one, but actually its etiology is unknown. Conventional treatment is based on the severity of its clinical manifestations. The first line of treatment is the administration of antimalarial drugs, immunosuppressants, glucocorticoids, and methotrexate. For many years, all of these medications have given some relief to patients suffering from this disease. Unfortunately, they are not very selective, reason why they cause serious adverse effects to the patients. Given this situation, the use of biological therapies has been sought; these have the advantage of being more specific. One of them are the monoclonal antibodies, such as belimumab, which have reduced the risk of flares and have improved the serological activity of patients. Therefore, research focused on biological therapy for the treatment of different autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus is being expanded every day.