Promising new drug for rheumatoid arthritis

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A drug that re-educates the immune system looks encouraging for rheumatoid arthritis.
One per cent of the US population suffers with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a painful condition characterized by swollen joints. It occurs when the immune system becomes overactive and attacks the body itself. Some treatments for RA tend to damp down immunity and may have side effects. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, now report on a new treatment which works in a different way.

The drug is called dnaJP1 and it is a peptide fragment of a naturally occurring protein dnaJ. In RA, dnaJ generates inflammation. Giving the peptide fragment re-educates the immune system not to respond with inflammation to the protein. In this trial, a group of patients were given dnaJP1 by mouth for six months. Compared with placebo, the active drug decreased symptoms and the improvements were long lasting. The researchers now plan to move to larger-scale clinical trials.

Source
Frontiers of Clinical Investigation meeting 14th October 2005

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