In addition, nicotine can inhibit the immune response of Th17 cells, the cytokine IL-17 secreted by Th17 and its transcription factor RORγτ (Wu et al., 2014; Yang et al., 2014), and suppress cytokine signaling protein SOCS3 (Li et al., 2018), matrix metalloproteinase MMP9 and angiogenesis factor VEGF (Arshadi et al., 2020), to control rheumatoid factor (RF) and C-reactive protein (CRP), and reduce pannus formation and joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis. The gene discussed is CRP; the disease is rheumatoid arthritis.