King's College London team track down vital clue in arthritis research
A team of doctors at King's College London have tracked down a crucial, previously undiscovered element that might be responsible for causing the incurable condition of rheumatoid arthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease affecting around 600,000 people in the UK in which the body's immune system attacks the joints leading to pain, stiffness and intense fatigue.
The team at Guys, which has been working on the genetics of rheumatoid arthritis for many years, believe the discovery of a new region of DNA that is linked and associated with the disease, is an exciting development in the quest to track down its genetic causes.
"Genetics is an important factor in determining who will or will not develop rheumatic arthritis," explained Dr Jerry Lanchbury, reader in molecular immunogenetics at the Guy's, King's and St Thomas's medical school.
"Recent advances in this field mean that some of the differences between people, which increase their risk of developing RA, can be determined. We have evidence of differences in a new region of DNA (the hereditary material) which appear to predict part of the risk of developing RA.
The group now wants to investigate this DNA region in more detail to confirm its initial findings, after collecting material from a fresh set of RA patients and their close relatives from the ARC Epidemiology Unit in Manchester.
If successful, it could lead to an additional genetic test which would help predict who is at risk of developing RA.
The Arthritis Research Campaign, which partly funds their programme of work together with the Wellcome Trust, recently awarded the team another grant of almost £130,000 over three years.
