Arthritis research in Glasgow given major cash boost
Three hundred rheumatoid arthritis patients throughout Scotland are to take part in a major clinical trial aimed at testing the effectiveness of combined drug therapies.
The trial has been funded by leading medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign and represents part of a quarter of a million pound investment into Scottish arthritis research work.
Patients from Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Falkirk and Inverness who respond poorly to one existing drug, sulphasalazine, will be taking part in the three-year £146,746 study.
Rheumatoid arthritis affects around 600,000 people in the UK, and causes inflammation in the lining of the joint, causing severe pain, swelling and stiffness. It can be treated by a number of drug therapies, but not all patients respond to existing medication.
Now consultant rheumatologist Dr Hilary Capell and a team at the Centre for Rheumatic Diseases at Glasgow Royal Infirmary are setting up a controlled trial of combination therapy, using two existing disease-modifying drugs, methotrexate and sulphasalazine.
One group will take both drugs, while two other groups will take one of the drugs with a placebo (a fake pill). Their progress will then be carefully monitored.
"We don't know if patients with rheumatoid arthritis will achieve better control of their disease if they take two disease modifying drugs rather than one," explained Dr Capell. "It's an important question we want to find the answer to – if we prescribe two drugs when one would be sufficient we expose patients to unnecessary side-effects and increase drug and monitoring costs.
"If on the other hand we deny patients who still have room for improvement on one drug the possibility that a second may give additional benefit, we could deprive them of better control of their disease."
The ARC has also awarded a three-year £100,526 grant to Dr Paul Garside in the department of immunology at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, to try to break the chain of events that lead to rheumatoid arthritis. He and his team will be investigating the role of a white blood cell called the CD4 lymphocyte, which attacks the body and causes inflammation in the joints. Once this has been established, new drugs can be designed to stop this happening.
The ARC exists to find the cause of and cure for arthritis and all forms of rheumatic disease. It funds several million pounds worth of research in Scotland; in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee as well as Glasgow.
