The rheumatoid arthritis is a disease of the joints that manifests as persistent inflammation. Due to a deregulation of the immune system, it causes swelling of the joints and a deformation which, in the absence of treatment, leads in 20% of cases to a functional incapacity, explains Institute of Health Medical Research. the BBC News site has just announced that a team of researchers from different countries has discovered 42 defective areas of DNA that are believed to be linked to the disease. This breakthrough could make it possible to work on new treatments to relieve the sick.
The genetic study in question, published by the journal Nature and involving nearly 30,000 patients, is the largest ever. The researchers compared the DNA of patients with arthritis with healthy people. The lead author of this work, Professor Robert Plenge of Harvard Medical School, found that one of the weaknesses in the areas of DNA he analyzed was treated with a drug that was not developed for correct the genetic problem. The researcher believes that this mistreatment could be improved.
Treat diabetes, Alzheimer’s and heart disease
But within the scientific community, some doctors believe that identifying DNA weaknesses related to complex diseases is unnecessary. The drugs will not treat the symptoms, they say. BBC News. Dr Robert Plenge disagrees: “This approach has enormous potential. It could be used to identify drug targets for complex diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, but also diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and certain heart diseases. ”
The team that conducted the study also observed that the same genetic weaknesses that characterize rheumatoid arthritis are found in patients with certain types of blood cancers. According to Professor Jane Worthington, director of the center for genetics in Manchester, cited by BBC News, this finding suggests that drugs that are used to treat cancer may be effective against rheumatoid arthritis and should be included in clinical trials.