'Ghost' molecule to help tackle rheumatoid arthritis

Scientists have recruited Casper the Ghost to develop a new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.

They gave the name to a "stealth" molecule that floats undetected into rogue immune system cells and causes them to self-destruct.

Tested in mice, the therapy is said to have halted rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with a 75 per cent success rate.

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Study leader Dr Harris Periman, from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, US, said: "The best part was we didn't see any toxicity. This has a lot of potential for creating an entirely new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis."

In RA, immune cells called macrophages run amok, building up in the joints and invading cartilage and bone causing inflammation, swelling, pain and damage.

There is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, which can result in deformity and disability. About one in 100 of the world's population is affected, with more than 350,000 people in Britain suffering from the disease, including children.

Existing treatments, including low-grade chemotherapy drugs which act to suppress the immune system, carry the risk of serious side effects. Modern alternative drug therapies, including genetically engineered treatments, are expensive and also increase the risk of other infection and disease.

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Dr Permian and his team discovered the immune cells are low in a molecule called Bim which normally causes them to self-destruct.

They developed an imitation of the molecule that entered the macrophages like a ghost and triggered their death.

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