Safety concerns on the development of novel therapeutic drugs 英文参考文献.docVIP

Available online /content/8/5/112 Commentary Safety concerns on the development of novel therapeutic drugs Caroline Ospelt and Steffen Gay Center of Experimental Rheumatology, Zürich, Switzerland Corresponding author: Caroline Ospelt, Caroline.ospelt@usz.ch Published: 1 September 2006 Arthritis Research Therapy 2006, 8:112 (doi:10.1186/ar2032) This article is online at /content/8/5/112 ? 2006 BioMed Central Ltd Abstract why about 30% of patients respond insufficiently to anti-TNF treatment [1]. In light of the costs of biological therapies and their potential side effects, a reliable strategy for identifying nonresponders as soon as possible – ideally even before initiation of therapy – would be of great importance. Along with recent innovative approaches resulting in the development of new therapies such as small molecular inhibitors, therapeutic antibodies, recombinant proteins and gene therapy, there is increasing need for improved understanding of the basic molecular mechanisms that are exploited by such treatments. Helpful tools in the analysis of drug effects include high-throughput screening techniques such as microarrays, which are used in transcriptomics and pharmacogenomics. Although we are far from using these extensive and costly tests in our daily clinical routine, their application in basic research nevertheless takes us closer to therapeutic strategies, in which the optimal therapeutic regimen is identified for each individual patient. In recent years gene expression profiling with microarray technology emerged as a powerful tool with which to elucidate biological pathways in health and disease. It offers the possibility to study simultaneously the expression of thousands of genes and to observe changes in gene expression during pathological states or pharmacological interventions. In or