Extracellular HMGB1 contributes to a variety of inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and lethal endotoxaemia and sepsis [7,11,12], which can be ameliorated by HMGB1 inhibitors, such as glycyrrhizin, via blocking HMGB1 release [9]. The gene discussed is HMGB1; the disease is rheumatoid arthritis.