Experts advise caution over arthritis cure

LONDON - Experts have responded cautiously to news that a team of British scientists may have developed a cure for the crippling disease rheumatoid arthritis, and possibly other "auto-immune" diseases.

Scientists from University College London (UCL) have had success in small-scale trials to treat people suffering from the painful disease, which affects 750,000 people in Britain.

The treatment consists of drugs which destroy the body's own "B-cells," part of the immune system which defends the body against disease. Sometimes these B-cells attack the body's own tissue, leading to rheumatoid arthritis.

Dr Anthony Clarke, medical director at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatoid Diseases, said details on the treatment were "sketchy" and it was too early to hail it as a wonder cure.

"Eighteen patients have shown benefits, but for any new drug you have to put it through a long testing process to make sure early promise proves to be correct and to make sure it is safe."

Such testing could take five to 10 years from the first human successes.

The UCL team's work looked at the role of the B-cells, the white blood cells that defend the body against viruses and bacteria by making antibodies that attack the hostile microbes.

B-cells often accidentally make antibodies that attack healthy tissue and some of those errant antibodies then trigger the production of copies of themselves. In that case, rheumatoid arthritis can follow, as the collagen which normally allows the joints to move smoothly becomes shredded and rough.



The new drug destroys the B-cells and the body responds by making fresh ones. The chances are small that these new B-cells will make the same mistake as their predecessors and trigger a return of rheumatoid arthritis.

Of 20 patients who underwent 18 months of treatment, five now have only some residual pain from the damage already done. Those treated had rheumatoid arthritis for an average of 20 years.

The B-cell-based therapy might also offer hope to patients with other auto-immune diseases, such as Crohn's disease, lupus and even multiple sclerosis, as it suggests ways of stopping the destructive cycle in which the immune system turns on the body's own tissues.

The team's findings will be published in the journal Rheumatology. Richard Glutch, spokesman for voluntary group Arthritis Care, said the Government would have to allocate substantial resources to pay for any drugs emerging from the treatment.

- INDEPENDENT