(7th August, 2014);
First time, Scientists are able to cure Rheumatoid arthritis in animals
with help of new drug. The researchers are now planning for human
studies to identify the efficacy of the medicinal product in humans.
The
drug is a biotechnologically produced active substance consisting of
two fused components. One component is the body’s own immune messenger
interleukin 4 (IL-4); previous studies have shown that this messenger
protects mice with rheumatoid arthritis against cartilage and bone
damage. ETH scientists have coupled an antibody to IL-4 that, based on
the key-lock principle, binds to a form of a protein that is found only
in inflamed tissue in certain diseases (and in tumour tissue).
Rheumatoid
arthritis is a condition that causes painful inflammation of several
joints in the body. The joint capsule becomes swollen, and the disease
can also destroy cartilage and bone as it progresses. Rheumatoid
arthritis affects 0.5% to 1% of the world’s population. Up to this
point, doctors have used various drugs to slow or stop the progression
of the disease.
But
now, ETH Zurich researchers have developed a therapy that takes the
treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in mice to a new level: after
receiving the medication, researchers consider the animals to be fully
cured.
“As
a result of combination with the antibody, IL-4 reaches the site of the
disease when the fusion molecule is injected into the body,” says pharmacist Teresa Hemmerle,
who has just completed her dissertation in the group of Dario Neri, a
professor at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Together with
Fabia Doll, also a PhD pharmacist at ETH, she is the lead author of the
study. “It allows us to concentrate the active substance at the site of
the disease. The concentration in the rest of the body is minimal, which
reduces side-effects,” she says.
The
researchers tested the new fusion molecule, which they refer to as an
‘armed antibody’, in a CTI project together with the ETH spin-off
Philochem. They used a mouse model in which the animals developed
swollen, inflamed toes and paws within a few days. Among other things,
the researchers studied the fusion molecule in combination with
dexamethasone, a cortisone-like anti-inflammatory drug that is already
used to treat rheumatoid arthritis in humans. The researchers started
treating each mouse as soon as they began showing signs of the disease
in the form of swollen extremities.
When
used separately, the new fusion molecule and dexamethasone managed only
to slow the progression of the disease in the affected animals. In
contrast, the typical signs of arthritis, such as swollen toes and paws,
disappeared completely within a few days when both medications were
administered at the same time. Concentrations of a whole range of immune
messengers in blood and inflamed tissue, which are changed in
rheumatoid arthritis, returned to their normal levels. “In our mouse
model, this combined treatment creates a long-term cure,” says Hemmerle,
who, since completing her dissertation, has been working at Philochem,
where she continues the project.
Based
on the promising results from the animal model, Philochem is currently
preparing to test the new drug in clinical trials on people suffering
from rheumatoid arthritis. According to the researchers, these tests
will begin in the next year.
Published
Work: Hemmerle T, Doll F, Neri D: Antibody-based delivery of IL4 to the
neovasculature cures mice with arthritis. PNAS, online publication 4
August 2014, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1402783111
0 comments:
Post a Comment