Health & Medicine - Posted by Marla Paul-Northwestern on Monday, February 1, 2010 11:56 - 7 Comments 
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(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...‘Ghostly’ molecule stops rheumatoid arthritis
Healthy immune cells are supposed to die after they attack an invading virus or bacteria. But in rheumatoid arthritis, the immune cells called macrophages (illustrated above) live and go rogue. They proliferate in the blood, build up in the joints, and invade cartilage and bone. Currently, there is no effective, nontoxic way to stop them. (Courtesy: iStockphoto)
NORTHWESTERN (US)—A stealthy molecule, nicknamed Casper the Ghost, can float undetected into overactive immune cells responsible for rheumatoid arthritis, causing them to self-destruct.
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The text of this article by Futurity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License.
The novel approach, tested on mice, appears to halt and even reverse rheumatoid arthritis without the health risks of current treatments. The study will be published in the February issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
“This new therapy stopped the disease cold in 75 percent of the mice,” says Harris Perlman, the lead author and an associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “The best part was we didn’t see any toxicity. This has a lot of potential for creating an entirely new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.”
Healthy immune cells are supposed to die after they attack an invading virus or bacteria. But in rheumatoid arthritis, the immune cells called macrophages live and go rogue. They proliferate in the blood, build up in the joints, and invade cartilage and bone. Currently, there is no effective, nontoxic way to stop them.
Perlman discovered that immune cells in rheumatoid arthritis are low in a critical molecule called Bim, whose job is to order the cells to self-destruct. To correct that shortage, Perlman developed an imitation of the molecule, called BH3 mimetic. When Harris injected his drug into mice with rheumatoid arthritis, it floated ghostlike into their macrophages and bam!, the misbehaving immune cells self destructed.
Harris shows the molecule could prevent the development of rheumatoid arthritis as well as trigger a remission of existing disease. After the drug was injected in animals with the disease, joint swelling was reduced and bone destruction decreased.
Current treatments for rheumatoid arthritis include low-level chemotherapy and steroids. These are not always effective, however, and they are frequently accompanied by side effects.
A newer class of therapy, which is sometimes used in combination with chemotherapy and steroids, is biologic response modifiers. These are antibodies or other proteins that reduce the inflammation produced by the hyperactive immune cells. These biologics don’t work for everyone, though, and can be associated with side effects, including the risk of infection.
Perlman says the next step is to develop nanotechnology for a more precise method of delivering the drug. His research was supported by the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
Northwestern University news: www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/
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7 Comments
Amy Stewart
Mark Bender
My only Daughter is 5 and there has been no remission (diagnosed Poly at 15 months / likely had JIA much earlier). Today on Methatrexate and Humira among other. Has Ulcerative Colitis and active Uveitis. This type of research provides hope to stop inflammation. Means the world to me. Thanks!
Yes, this gives us hope. I try not to listen to the many who say pharma companies do not offer a cure because they make 13+ billion per year from RA. A cure could make money too I suppose. But the idea is reprehensible. I am encouraged when I see someone making this effort in a new direction!
char thoms
Sounds interesting how is it doing in “people” trills?
Do you need people to try it on?
Dee
encouring to see this research. i live near northwestern and am so happy to see researchers making strides towards curing this awful disease. my father suffered for many years, his father before him. i’ve had some issues with joint pain myself – although no where near their suffering.
i find foods make a big difference – until a cure is found, cut out foods like gluten, milk – maybe even corn, sugar or soy. the rbbfb.org (the roadback) is also a great site for using antibiotic treatment to put RA/PA or even scleroderma into remission.
Hi, your website template doesnt load correctly with IE6. just letting you know. I liked your blog anyway tho. I will check it sometimes.
DON
THIS CURE FOR RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS WILL NEVER BECOME AVAILALE, THE BIG PHARMACUTICAL COMPANIES WILL FIGHT IT. TERE IS A CHANCE, IF THE PEOPLE CONTACT THEIR CONGRESS PERSON, THE PRESIDENT, AND THE FDA TO FORCE THIS CURE TO BE AVAILABLE NOW. BUT IT’S AVAILABILITY IS ALREADY BEING FOUGHT SIMPLY BY NOT MENTIONING IT IN THE NEWS
This is so exciting and so amazing. I thank the researchers for their commitment to finding a cure!