New arthritis drug significantly reduces symptoms. 24/08/2006....

New arthritis drug significantly reduces symptoms. 24/08/2006. ABC News Online

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/news/health/sophie_scott/newsitems/s1722436.htm]

Thursday, August 24, 2006 . Posted: 00:00:00 (AEDT)
New arthritis drug significantly reduces symptoms

An Australian designed drug is being hailed as a advance in treating rheumatoid arthritis.

The new medication has been tested on patients at three Australian hospitals and found it significantly reduced their symptoms.

Scientists from the University of Queensland have taken a naturally occurring protein and turned it into a drug which seems to switch off rheumatoid arthritis.

"The preliminary results suggest this is a potentially a very valuable treatment," Associate Professor Steven Hall, a rheumatologist from Melbourne's Cabrini Hospital said.

In the trial, 23 patients with moderate to severe arthritis were divided into three groups.

Each group was given a different dose of the drug through a drip.

Those given the highest dose reported the biggest improvement in their symptoms.

"In the absolute best results we saw one patient who had absolutely nothing to suggest active arthritis, the vast majority had active improvement," Professor Hall said.

Current anti-arthritis drugs work on stopping just one source of inflammation, whilst this new medication attacks on several fronts.

"Our compound targets a range of molecules to turn down the immune system," Dr Daina Vanags, scientist at CBio, said.

There are no significant side effects, but researchers say the promising results will need to repeated in larger trials before the drug can be widely released.

The company manufacturing the compound is called CBio.

The findings have been published in the medical journal The Lancet.

--Lupus results in mice.


CBio Ltd, Eight Mile Plains, Queensland, Australia
mce-anchorDepartment of Dermatology and Allergology, University of Munich, Munich, Germany
mce-anchorMedizinische Poliklinik-Innenstadt, University of Munich, Munich, Germany
Conclusion:
Our study clearly demonstrates that Cpn10 prevents cutaneous lupus and suppresses lupus nephritis in MRLlpr/lpr mice without affecting the underlying autoimmune process or systemic inflammation. Hence, Cpn10 shows significant potential for the treatment of selective human SLE-related tissue pathologies, such as cutaneous lupus and lupus nephritis whilst possibly offering an improved safety profile by not blocking healthy immune responses. This work taken together with previously published data in human RA and CPP trials, provides evidence of Cpn10's utility beyond a single indication.

We know cpn10 is effective in both indications.Funding,dosage and delivery methods are obviously the key .