RESEARCH - A new approach to treating RA - a new synthetic protein

[Guest guest]

MIT Technology Review

Biomedicine

A New Approach to Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis

An engineered protein reduces arthritis symptoms in mice

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011

BY LAUREN GRAVITZ

A new protein engineered to inhibit molecules that cause inflammation

not only reduces symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis in mice but also may

have potential to reverse the disease's course. Researchers hope the

findings will point toward a new therapy for this crippling and

difficult-to-treat disease, which occurs when the immune system

attacks the body's own joints. Even medications that are most

successful in halting joint inflammation are effective in only about

half of the patients who try them.

Current drugs for rheumatoid arthritis inhibit tumor necrosis factor

(TNF), an inflammatory molecule known to play a role in regulating the

immune system and one that has been implicated in numerous diseases,

from cancer to multiple sclerosis. However, these anti-TNF medications

can also increase the risk of cancer, exacerbate other autoimmune

conditions, and cost a patient as much as $20,000 per year. The new

synthetic protein, described last week online in the journal Science,

appears to target TNF in a far more specific fashion and could be

produced at a small fraction of the cost.

***********************************

Read the full article here:

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/35091/?mod=chfeatured & a=f

Not an MD