New Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Ivanhoe Newswire—May 25, 2011

A powerful pro-inflammatory protein, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), can suppress aspects of inflammation. The identification of the mechanism of how this works could potentially lead to new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.

"Prior to this study, TNF has long been known as a potent pro-inflammatory cytokine, but if you look carefully through the literature, there are hints that it also has some suppressive functions, but nothing was known about the mechanisms," sid Lionel Ivashkiv, M.D. , associate chief scientific officer and physician in the Arthritis and Tissue Degeneration Program at Hospital for Special Surgery who led the study, was quoted as saying. "This is really the first mechanism showing how TNF can turn inflammation down."

Researchers designed experiments stimulating macrophages with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a prototypical inflammatory factor that stimulates receptors important in inflammation. In test tube studies, the researchers treated human monocytes and macrophages, cells that have a key role in inflammatory diseases, with TNF and then challenged these cells with LPS.

This story originally appeared at redorbit.com.