LONG BEACH, CALIF. -- Thirty years of painstaking research has recently produced a promising new treatment to reduce the inflammatory symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (the degeneration of joint tissues).

Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the most debilitating and painful forms of arthritis, affecting over two million Americans. The new therapy utilizes a substance produced in the body to block the activity of the chemical produced by the autoimmune response. It is this autoimmune reaction which leads to the joint tissue degeneration associated with this disease. Reduction of the inflammatory symptoms of the disease means relief from painful, swollen and tender joints and, as a result, increased mobility.

Autoimmune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, commonly known as lupus, are illnesses which occur when body tissues are mistakenly attacked by its own immune system. According to an article in the July 17, 1997 New England Journal of Medicine, the new therapy is currently being tested on rheumatoid arthritis sufferers at arthritis research centers nationwide. The initial results have shown a significant improvement of the inflammatory symptoms of the disease.

"The progress of the research to date is very encouraging,", said ANRF President and University of California, Irvine, Professor of Immunology, Gale A. Granger, Ph.D. "If the research continues to demonstrate similar clinical results, this treatment should be available through your doctor within the next few years and rheumatoid arthritis patients can look forward to less pain and increased mobility."

During the 1970s and 1980s, the Arthritis National Research Foundation supported important research which led to the discovery of cytokines, the substance released by the body’s white blood cells which causes the attack on and destruction of healthy joint tissues. More specifically, the two agents released by the white blood cells which cause this destruction of tissues are known as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and lymphotoxins.

Subsequent research conducted during the late 1980s and 1990s, also supported in part by the Foundation, revealed that certain body cells release a molecule which blocks TNF activity by combining with and inactivating these two cytokines. By isolating and using this molecule to block the TNF activity, the pain and inflammation of joints associated with rheumatoid arthritis may be significantly reduced.

Clinical trials utilizing this TNF-receptor, as this treatment is known, are currently underway at research centers across the country. Initial results indicate that semi-weekly injections are reducing the clinical symptoms of up to 61% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and hold promise as a new therapy for this debilitating disease.

The scientific pathway that led to this important new therapy took almost 30 years to develop from discovery and characterization to successful clinical testing. The Arthritis National Research Foundation has been funding rheumatoid arthritis and other rheumatic disease research since 1952. Based in Long Beach, Calif., the Arthritis National Research Foundation disseminates information to the public and physicians on current research through a periodic newsletter. Grants are awarded on an annual basis. Proposals are peer-reviewed by the medical committee of the board of directors, as well as NIH-level expert scientists and physicians in the field.

For more information please contact: Arthritis National Research Foundation, 200 Oceangate, Suite 440, Long Beach, CA 90802, 800-588-CURE, 562-983-1410 (FAX), or on the World Wide Web, www.CureArthritis.org.