Analysis of data from P2X7 small molecule inhibitors and genetic knock out of P2RX7 has demonstrated the key role played by P2X7 in inflammation and immunity (Di Virgilio et al., 2017; Adinolfi et al., 2018; Adinolfi et al., 2019) and, as a consequence, in chronic inflammatory diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Ferrari et al., 1994; Sinadinos et al., 2015), rheumatoid arthritis (Stock et al., 2012) and inflammatory bowel disease (Arulkumaran et al., 2011; Eser et al., 2015). This evidence concerns the gene P2RX7 and rheumatoid arthritis.