====== Rheumatology & Immunosuppressants ======Inflammatory & autoimmune disease pharmacology
This section organizes therapy by immune pathway → drug class → clinical use.Start with foundations, then move through drug classes and disease-specific pathways.
—-===== Quick Start ===== * Foundations: Immunology Physiology · Histamine / Hypersensitivity · Eicosanoids (NSAIDs & Leukotrienes) * Core classes: Conventional DMARDs · Biologic DMARDs · JAK / Targeted Therapies · Glucocorticoids * Key diseases: Rheumatoid Arthritis · Psoriatic Arthritis · Ankylosing Spondylitis · Systemic Lupus (SLE) · Gout—-===== Drug Classes ========= Conventional DMARDs ==== * Methotrexate * Hydroxychloroquine * Sulfasalazine * Leflunomide * Azathioprine * Mycophenolate==== Biologic DMARDs ==== * TNF inhibitors (adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab, etc.) * IL-6 inhibitors (tocilizumab, sarilumab) * IL-17 inhibitors (secukinumab, ixekizumab) * IL-12/23 inhibitors (ustekinumab) * B-cell depletion (rituximab) * T-cell co-stimulation (abatacept) * Complement inhibitors (eculizumab)==== Targeted Small Molecules ==== * JAK inhibitors (tofacitinib, baricitinib, upadacitinib) * PDE4 inhibitors (apremilast) * Other targeted agents==== Calcineurin / mTOR ==== * Tacrolimus * Cyclosporine * Sirolimus / Everolimus==== Glucocorticoids ==== * Systemic steroids * Local / intra-articular—-===== Disease-Specific Pathways ===== * Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) * Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) * Ankylosing Spondylitis / AxSpA * Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) * Vasculitides * Inflammatory Myopathies * Giant Cell Arteritis * Sjogren Syndrome * IBD-associated arthritis—-===== Monitoring & Safety ===== * Baseline & ongoing monitoring * Infection risk & vaccines * Pregnancy & lactation considerations * TB / Hep B screening * Malignancy risk * Drug interactions—-===== Pearls & Tables ===== * Clinical pearls * Mechanism -> adverse effect tables * Head-to-head comparisons