Gold & Platinum used in autoimmune - business week blurb

[Guest guest]

Edited by Neil Gross

MEDICINE

How Precious Metals Work Their Magic

Gold and platinum have been used to treat autoimmune diseases such

as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis since the 1930s, but how the

metals work their magic has never been clear. While looking for new

drugs to treat these debilitating diseases, researchers at Harvard

Medical School may have stumbled on the answer.

Minute quantities of the precious metals appear to neutralize a type

of protein called MHC class II, which the body employs to rev up the

immune system when viruses or bacteria cause an infection. These MHC

proteins typically hold up bits of pathogens, like red flags, to

summon the help of white blood cells. But in the case of autoimmune

disease, the proteins wave around fragments of body tissue, which

causes white blood cells to attack the healthy tissue. That leads to

inflammation and other autoimmune responses. Platinum and some forms

of gold seem to pry the fragments loose.

Scientists hope the discovery of how gold halts the autoimmune

response will lead to metal-based medicines that work faster than

existing gold and platinum drugs and don't cause side effects.

By C. Symonds

I know we've had success with both gold and platinum. Gold for our

younger son, platinum for our older son. Has anyone else?