MIF and arthritic joint disease: MIF characteristics of cell activation and proinflammatory action, make this molecule a constituent element of immunity and stress responses, contributing significantly to several immunopathologies resulting from excessive inflammation and autoimmunity (Donnelly and Bucala, 1997; Stosic-Grujicic et al., 2009), such as septic shock (Bernhagen et al., 1994), arthritis (Morand and Leech, 2005), diabetes (Sánchez-Zamora and Rodriguez-Sosa, 2014; Sánchez-Zamora et al., 2016), and other inflammatory autoimmune conditions (Denkinger et al., 2004; Morand, 2005; Santos and Morand, 2009).