Prof. Helen Lachmann
PP-26702
IL-1 alpha and beta act on the cells around them and produce a cascade of inflammation resulting in production of additional IL-1 and other inflammatory cytokines, causing a positive auto-inflammatory feedback loop. The question then becomes, can this loop be broken? And the answer is it can. And so the results of this have demonstrated that there are negative homeostatic mechanisms. And in particular, looking back at Professor Dinarello's research, an important member of the IL-1 family is important in down-regulating this response. And this is the IL-1 receptor antagonist. This is a predominantly anti-inflammatory protein, which opposes the actions of IL-1 alpha and beta. And there is now a recombinant form of the IL-1 receptor accessory protein anakinra, which is available as therapy. And there has now been the availability of specific IL-1 targeting agents of a variety of types has shown in clinical practice in patients with disease, that IL-1 is an important mediator for a variety of diseases in humans, in particular auto-inflammatory diseases (Broderick & Hoffman, 2022; Kineret SmPC).