A collaborative team of scientists has pinpointed two new potential therapeutic targets for rheumatoid arthritis – a painful inflammatory disease that affects an estimated 350 million people worldwide.
A collaborative team of scientists has pinpointed two new potential therapeutic targets for rheumatoid arthritis – a painful inflammatory disease that affects an estimated 350 million people worldwide.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common form of Inflammatory arthritis, affecting 1-2% of the world’s population. It is characterised by progressive joint inflammation, damage and disability, which severely impacts a patient’s quality of life. There is currently no cure.
Contrary to popular belief, RA is not a “disease of the elderly”. Disease onset occurs in adults between 35-45 years of age, and it also afflicts children.
“B cells” are key cells of the immune system, which are responsible for the production of antibodies that fight infections. However, in RA, these B cells—for reasons not yet fully understood—fail to recognise friend from foe and thus attack the joints. This leads to the tell-tale joint inflammation that causes such pain in patients.
Read more at: Trinity College Dublin
Dr Achilleas Floudas, front right, and Professor Ursula Fearon, left, with members of Trinity College Dublin's Molecular Rheumatology Group. (Photo Credit: Trinity College Dublin)
