Biological agents give you a spine

  Ankylosing spondylitis is a disease characterized by progressive synovitis and tendon adhesion point inflammation mainly involving the spine and hip joints. The incidence of the disease is often in adolescent males, and the incidence is much higher than that of rheumatoid arthritis, making it a health killer of young men. The recurrent attacks of the disease often lead to joint deformity, causing stooping, hunchback, neck and back straightening, painful and stiff joints affect the patient’s daily life, and the abnormal appearance also affects the patient’s work and marital life, so the patient often carries great ideological pressure.  The traditional treatment of this disease is the application of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and slow-acting anti-rheumatic drugs. The latter include salbutamol and methotrexate. Traditional drugs can only provide limited improvement in the patient’s pain. In recent years, with the advancement of molecular biology, the pathogenesis of the disease has been investigated, and it is believed that one of the “culprits” leading to cartilage and bone erosion and destruction is tumor necrosis factor-α. Tumor necrosis factor-α antagonists such as infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab, and adalatumab are used. These biological agents can not only effectively relieve the disease, but also block the damage to the joints and even repair the damaged joint structure, which has become a new strategy for the treatment of rheumatic diseases in the 21st century.  In 1999, the FDA approved the tumor necrosis factor-alpha antagonist infliximab for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis, and four years later the FDA approved etanercept, which was included in treatment guidelines and Medicare medications. Nearly 10,000 patients have benefited from biologic therapy worldwide. There are currently three tumor necrosis factor-alpha antagonists clinically used in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis: (Adalimumab), which has been used in major hospitals in China and has greatly improved the prognosis of patients.