Blockade of Interleukin 1 Receptor in Still’s Disease Affects Activation of Peripheral T-Lymphocytes

Excerpt

To the Editor:

Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a rare systemic inflammatory disease characterized by arthralgias, transient cutaneous eruption, and high fluctuating fever¹. No pathognomonic biological marker has yet been identified, making diagnosis difficult.

Recent pathophysiological findings showed thatAOSD is characterized by a particular cytokine profile, suggesting implication of Th1 immune response. The overwhelming implication of interleukin 1 (IL-1) in the systemic inflammatory reaction seen during the course of AOSD has justified the administration of agents blocking IL-1 receptor (anakinra), which gave some good results^3,4. We describe a case of AOSD with an activated macrophage syndrome that responded to anakinra.…