Precision Medicine Shows Promise for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Highlights:

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammation of the joints which mostly affect women.
The disease causing variants of the gene were focused for the treatment.
Precision Medicine Approach shows promise for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

A research study from the Yale University has identified the mechanism of a gene which could raise the risk of rheumatoid arthritis in certain individuals.

The study findings had led to the development of new treatment options based on the genetic profiles of arthritis patients.

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Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes pain, swelling, stiffness and loss of function in the joints.

‘Precision medicine approach shows new hope for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.’

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The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that commonly affects the joints. It approximately affects 3 million people in the world and is more prevalent among women.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammation of the joints which can lead to severe disability. This may sometimes be in a more severe form resulting in vascular inflammation and internal organ damage that might lead to premature death.

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Are you experiencing pain in the joints? You might have Rheumatoid arthritis, a condition affecting joints and results in pain and joint deformities. It is diagnosed by radiology and blood tests.

The research study mainly focused on the disease causing variants of the gene which has been associated with rheumatoid arthritis.

Various experiments were conducted by using the cells obtained from the rheumatoid joints of the patients who either had a disease causing or a disease protective MIF gene.

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Scientists found high - expression MiF gene to be correlated with increased expression of MIF receptor protein (CD44) and have introduced structural changes in the proteins of the cancer tissues. These changes would inturn destroy the rheumatoid joints.

Richard Bucala M.D., Yale Professor of Medicine said, "We showed that the presence of the high-expression risk variant led to more MIF production and to structural alterations in a cell surface protein that had long been associated with invasive cancers."

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"The high-expression MIF risk gene helps explain the cancer-like properties of the rheumatoid joint." he added.

The study findings has shown the use of MIF inhibitors for rheumatoid arthritis in genetically susceptible patients. MIF inhibitors were developed for testing cancer and autoimmunity in the laboratory. Scientists were found to use these drugs along with inhibitors to suppress the invasive effect of MIF on rheumatoid joint cells.

The author also noted,"It's a precision-medicine approach to treating autoimmune disease," "Patients with a risk MIF genotype would be most effectively treated by such drugs."

Source-Medindia