Word: lupus
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Most of these drugs are genetically engineered biological molecules, and the majority are designed to treat rheumatoid arthritis and its close clinical relative, lupus. Like many other autoimmune diseases, both disorders strike women disproportionately. In RA, the immune system attacks the joints and eventually weakens the bones, causing excruciating pain, fatigue and daily bouts of fever. With lupus, the attack is far more generalized, affecting blood vessels, joints, skin and several internal organs. In severe cases, it can be lethal...
Both can be treated, but there is a catch: the treatments are nearly as harsh as the diseases. Steroids, for example--a mainstay of lupus therapy--shut down the immune system and suppress inflammation, but they can also promote hardening of the arteries, bone loss, obesity and even psychosis. Steroids are, in fact, among the leading causes of death and morbidity for patients with chronic lupus...
Both can be treated, but there’s a catch: the treatments are nearly as harsh on the body as the diseases themselves. Steroids, for example-a mainstay of lupus therapy-shut down the immune system and suppress painful inflammation, but can also promote hardening of the arteries, bone loss, psychosis and obesity. Steroids, in fact, are among of the leading causes of death and morbidity for patients with chronic lupus...
That story, in fact, has inspired trials of nearly two dozen new biotech medicines. IDEC Pharmaceuticals in San Diego, Calif., for example, has zeroed in on the interactions between helper T cells and APCs to develop antibody drugs against lupus and RA. Their anti-RA antibody selectively switches off T cells involved in autoimmune responses by binding the CD4 molecule on their surfaces. Amgen, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., has developed a drug that works by blocking Interleukin-1, another molecule that promotes inflammation...
Thanks to technologies spawned by genomics, the list of potential drug targets is growing rapidly. Human Genome Sciences and Seattle-based ZymoGenetics, for instance, are independently developing drugs to inhibit a newly discovered factor that stimulates B cells and is produced copiously in RA and lupus patients...