HOTAIR and rheumatoid arthritis: HOTAIR is a potential therapeutic target against inflammatory diseases.[41,42] HOTAIR knockdown attenuates nucleus pulposus cell death thus preventing intervertebral disc degeneration.[41] However, a previous study suggested that HOTAIR is decreased and that enhancing HOTAIR has a protective effect in rheumatoid arthritis.[42] These reports showed that the biological function of HOTAIR is diverse in different diseases.