Could the determination of a serum cytokines profile during/ at the end of the disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) mono-therapy period be used for the selection of a certain biologic DMARDs for the following treatment in non-responsive rheumatoid arthritis patients ? e.g. anti-TNF versus anti-IL-6?
Dear serum cytokines will be good markers for RA based on the changes you observe during treatment and after treatment.
ideally.. you would think so. But there has never been a successful panel, or even an inkling of what these biomarkers could even be. There are several reasons why... and I can probably list an entire page or more of them.
While I can tell you that there are clinical trials that are looking at this question... But my own personal opinion... serum/plasma biomarkers, which are kind of static... isn't going to give you the answer. I'm more of a proponent of a function assay.