Cardiff scientist awarded major grant for important arthritis research
A Cardiff scientist has been awarded a major grant for research that could reduce inflammation and tissue damage in the potentially crippling condition of rheumatoid arthritis.
Dr Philippe Gasque, Senior MRC Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Wales' College of Medicine has been awarded a three-year grant of £130,170 from the Arthritis Research Campaign.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an incurable, inflammatory joint disease which affects around 600,000 people in the UK, and usually starts between the ages of 30 and 50. It is one of a number of auto-immune diseases, in which the body's immune system attacks its own cells.
Dr Gasque and his team aim to explore the effects of blocking a specific protein which is responsible for causing inflammation and tissue destruction in joints.
"Complement proteins are found in our blood and are also produced in all major tissues of our body, " explained Dr Gasque. "Complement proteins are important to generate an efficient response against intruders and can kill, for instance, viruses and bacteria. However, uncontrolled expression and activation of complement at susceptible sites can lead to inflammation and tissue destruction in an arthritic joint.
"The prospect of using specifically designed drugs to block complement for therapy has captured the interest of both scientists and clinicians. The aim of our research is to test whether a new anti-complement agent can block local inflammation and tissue destruction, when administered or locally into the joint."
If we are successful, this anti-complement agent may prove to be effective in the treatment of arthritis."
Cardiff is a leading centre of arthritis research, and the Arthritis Research Campaign currently supports 20 grants at the University of Wales, worth more than £1.6m. The ARC is the UK's fifth-biggest medical research charity, funded entirely by public donations.
