New class of anti-arthritis drugs could treat multiple inflammatory diseases

A new class of anti-arthritic drugs reduces both arthritic joint inflammation and periodontitis (gradual loss of bone and tissues that support the teeth) says a study in The American Journal of Pathology.
One of the issues with current drugs is that medication effective for one disorder may exacerbate the other – making it difficult to treat people with more than one inflammatory disease.
The new class of drugs (DTrp) are known as MC receptor agonists.
“MC receptor agonists, possibly better if selective for MC3, represent a novel class of anti-arthritic therapeutics able to target joint disease without aggravating unwanted effects on distant organs and tissues,” explains Dr Mauro Perretti, who is involved in the research.
Studies on mice showed that those with arthritis also had bone loss in the jaw. But if they were given DTrp, their arthritis symptoms improved and they had less bone loss. When given traditional arthritis treatments, the arthritis symptoms improved but the bone loss became worse – and other mainstream treatments saw the bone loss improve at the cost of the arthritis symptoms.
“DTrp could be viewed as a starting point for a new class of bone-sparing anti-arthritic agents,” says Dr John L Wallace in a commentary on the findings. “This study highlights the continued value of simpler and cheaper (for both the maker and the end-user) approaches to drug development, harnessing the potential of endogenous anti-inflammatory mechanisms.”

To read the original research click here.
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