Tests reveal remedy could also halt diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and alzheimer’s
February 17, 2015
Researchers in Dublin have led an international study identifying a remarkable drug that may be able to block major diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis and most other inflammatory conditions.
Initial tests show it could instantly block MS and the effects of blood poisoning in mouse models. It also halted a rare inflammatory disease called Muckle-Wells syndrome using human blood samples as a test.
Muckle-Wells syndrome is a disorder characterised by episodes of skin rash, fever and joint pain. Progressive hearing loss and kidney damage also occur with this illness.
The drug, called MCC950, stops a very early trigger that sets off the inflammatory response to infection. While inflammation is good during infections it can cause a wide range of serious diseases if the inflammation remains in place.
“This is exciting, one of the biggest discoveries we have had,” said Prof Luke O’Neill, the chairman of biochemistry based in the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute. “It is fantastic, the thing we have been looking for for 30 years. This could be the missing compound.”
Their main discovery is being able to identify the pathway that allows the drug to block the action of a pro-inflammatory substance in the body called NLRP3.
They also confirmed that inflammatory diseases all share a common process, even though the parts of the body becoming inflamed might differ, he said.
This was shown in the treatment of three very different conditions in mice and also when using human samples. “It really showed that it could work in humans,” he said.
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