Abstract
Therapy of paediatric rheumatic diseases has radically changed over the past twenty years with introduction of biologic drugs. Thesenew drugs represent a significant advance in targeted and effective treatment especially for children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.However, biologics are used off-label in other serious systemic inflammatory diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus,juvenile dermatomyositis, systemic vasculitis, and autoinflammatory diseases.
With the modern treatment, most our patients reachremission and they are thus able to lead a normal life without any limitation. According to the mechanism of action, we can dividebiologic drugs into those that interfere with proinflammatory cytokines and those that block the function of T or B lymphocytes.This article deals with selected groups of biologics, their indication, side effects and some problems concerning their use.