Maria Jose Alcaraz • Oreste Gualillo
Olga Sánchez-Pernaute
Editors
2013
Rheumatisms are complex diseases in which the incidence of exogenous factors is determinant. Searching for an individual pathogenic factor is often useless in this kind of diseases, whereas targeting general cell processes might be a better strategy. Rheumatic diseases are highly heterogeneous in both causative mechanisms and lesion type, but in most cases their development and progression are characterized by a failure of resident cells to preserve tissue homeostasis. The physiology of joints and connective tissues makes them particularly exposed to oxidative stress.