Gleevec for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Gleevec has been called the ?magic bullet? for those with a chronic myelogenous leukemia, a type of blood cancer. New research published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, demonstrates that Gleevec was useful in preventing the development of arthritis in mice. The results offer hope that gleevec may one day be useful for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, disorder of the joint. In this condition the body?s own immune system attacks the joints and causes inflammation, joint destruction and deformity. This painful condition presents with simultanous inflammation of many joints and the involvement of other organs. One animal model of rheumatoid arthritis involves the injection of collegen into mice. In the present study, prior to the injection of collagen, some mice received placebo, and the others received one of 2 doses of gleevec. Results showed that 90% of those who received placebo developed arthritis, whereas half of those in the low dose gleevec group, and only 20% in the high dose gleevec group developed this condition. In other experiments, the drug was also noted to stop the disease from progressing. Other work done by the researchers showed that when cells obtained from the joints of humans with rheumatoid arthritis were exposed to Gleevec, signals important in inflammation and scarring were reduced. While these results are very promising, large clinical trials on humans will need to be conducted to confirm its safety and efficacy for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.