Connective tissue diseases (CTDs) consist of an extensive range of heterogeneous medical conditions, which are caused by immune-mediated chronic inflammation and influences the various connective tissues of the body. They include rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, vasculitis, Sjögren’s syndrome, Behcet’s disease, and many other autoimmune CTDs. To date, several anti-inflammatory approaches have been developed to reduce the severity of inflammation or its subsequent organ manifestations. As a logical mechanism to harnesses the undesired inflammation, some studies investigated the role of the intrinsic cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP) in the modulation of chronic inflammation. Many different experimental and clinical models have been developed to evaluate the therapeutic significance of the CAP in CTDs. On the other hand, an issue that is less emphasized in this regard is the presence of autonomic neuropathy in CTDs, which influences the efficiency of CAP in such clinical settings. This condition occurs during CTDs and is a well-known complication of patients suffering from them. The advantages and limitations of CAP in the control of inflammatory responses and its possible therapeutic benefits in the treatment of CTDs are the main subjects of the current study. Therefore, this narrative review article is provided based on the recent findings of the complicated role of CAP in CTDs which were retrieved by searching Science Direct, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. It seems that delineating the complex influences of CAP would be of great interest in designing novel surgical or pharmacological therapeutic strategies for CTDs therapy.

结缔组织病 (CTD) 包括范围广泛的异质医学病症，它们由免疫介导的慢性炎症引起并影响身体的各种结缔组织。它们包括类风湿性关节炎、系统性红斑狼疮、系统性硬化症、血管炎、干燥综合征、白塞氏病和许多其他自身免疫性 CTD。迄今为止，已经开发了几种抗炎方法来降低炎症的严重程度或其随后的器官表现。作为利用不良炎症的逻辑机制，一些研究调查了内在胆碱能抗炎通路 (CAP) 在调节慢性炎症中的作用。已经开发了许多不同的实验和临床模型来评估 CAP 在 CTD 中的治疗意义。另一方面，在这方面不太强调的一个问题是 CTD 中存在自主神经病变，这会影响 CAP 在此类临床环境中的效率。这种情况发生在 CTD 期间，并且是患有 CTD 的患者的众所周知的并发症。CAP 在控制炎症反应方面的优势和局限性及其在治疗 CTD 中可能的治疗益处是当前研究的主要主题。因此，这篇叙述性评论文章是基于最近通过搜索 Science Direct、PubMed、Google Scholar 和 Web of Science 检索到的关于 CAP 在 CTD 中的复杂作用的发现而提供的。似乎描绘 CAP 的复杂影响对设计用于 CTD 治疗的新型手术或药物治疗策略具有重要意义。