What diseases does infliximab mainly treat?

Infliximab (Infliximab) is a representative tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) monoclonal antibody, which is widely used in a variety of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. By blocking TNF-α, a cytokine that plays a central role in inflammatory responses, it inhibits excessive immune activation, reduces inflammatory responses and prevents tissue destruction. This drug is mainly used to treat a variety of chronic autoimmune diseases, with indications covering the intestinal tract, joints, skin and other systems, and is of extremely high clinical importance.

Specifically, infliximab has been widely used to treat moderate to severe Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). These two inflammatory bowel diseases are characterized by abdominal pain, diarrhea, and weight loss. They often occur in young people, and the course of the disease is repeated and difficult to recover. In these patients, infliximab significantly reduces intestinal inflammation, induces and maintains clinical remission, and helps reduce steroid use. In the field of joints, it is one of the commonly used biologics for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. By suppressing the immune system's erroneous attacks on joints, infliximab can delay joint destruction and improve quality of life. In the skin field, the drug is also used to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, especially for patients who are ineffective in traditional topical or small molecule drugs.

In general, infliximab, as a biological drug targeting the inflammatory pathway, provides a new treatment option for many patients with chronic inflammatory diseases with its strong anti-inflammatory ability and multi-indication coverage. It especially shows significant advantages in early intervention and control of disease progression. As research continues to deepen, its application in some rare autoimmune diseases is gradually expanding. It can be said that infliximab is one of the representative drugs for the precision treatment of contemporary inflammatory diseases.

Reference materials:https://www.drugs.com/infliximab.html