{"id":246184,"date":"2025-07-07T20:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T20:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/246184\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T20:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T20:48:09","slug":"new-gene-study-offers-arthritis-treatment-insights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/246184\/","title":{"rendered":"New gene study offers arthritis treatment insights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Edinburgh scientists have uncovered the group of genes responsible for increasing people\u2019s risk of rheumatoid arthritis, which they say may lead to new treatments reach patients in the next three years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The University of Edinburgh study<\/a> looked at genetic data from 450,000 people in the UK Biobank to understand the effect of common mutations in particular genes on the risk of arthritis.<\/p>\n

Despite up to 217,000 people in Scotland suffering from rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis \u2013 causing pain, swelling and stiffness in their joints \u2013 no cure exists, and most treatments have focused on alleviating pain.<\/p>\n

While less common than osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis has a stronger genetic link and stems from the body\u2019s immune system attacking the lining of joints.<\/p>\n

Looking for the genes that could underpin this autoimmune condition, the researchers found 16 genes linked to rheumatoid arthritis, six of which are known to cause immune system problems when faulty.<\/p>\n

The Edinburgh team believe that treatments targeting these six genes may be hold the key to treating or even curing rheumatoid arthritis. Medicines which target a protein the genes produce called \u2018programmed death protein 1\u2019 (PD-1), have already shown promising results.<\/p>\n

The University of Edinburgh\u2019s Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics, Paul McKeigue said the new study marks a step-change in how researchers and clinicians understand arthritis:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis work reshapes our understanding of the causes of rheumatoid arthritis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect drugs that target the causes of the disease to be more effective than the drugs used now, which only target inflammation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re encouraged by the promising results of trials of drugs that target PD-1 in rheumatoid arthritis.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research can help identify which other autoimmune diseases these drugs are likely to be effective in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month, AnaptysBio revealed that its PD-1 targeting drug<\/a> was effective at treating patients with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis, and has been shown to be safe and well tolerated over six months.<\/p>\n

Professor McKeigue told healthandcare.scot the phase 2 trial findings are not only encouraging as they validate the Edinburgh team\u2019s research, but they also showcase the potential of target treatment:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is exciting as we\u2019d found that this is a core gene underpinning rheumatoid arthritis, and the clinical trial shows that by PD-1 targeted treatments can modify the immune-checking system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s encouraging as well for the first time we\u2019re seeing treatments that address the causes rather than just the inflammatory impact of rheumatoid arthritis.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the next stage will be a phase 3 clinical trial monitoring how patients respond to the treatment over a longer time, meaning it could take three years for the treatment to reach patients through NHS Scotland.<\/p>\n

Professor McKeigue said this genetic target could also translate into treatment for other autoimmune conditions, and work is underway to investigate broader applications.<\/p>\n

The Edinburgh team will now study whether the activity of these core genes can further guide treatment for people living with rheumatoid arthritis, and is reaching out to companies researching targeted treatments.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong> Want to eat less meat? New study seeks volunteers<\/a>; Treatment-resistant cancer focus of new study<\/a>;\u00a0Charting Scotland’s future health demand<\/a>;\u00a0Harnessing a parasite to take drugs into the brain<\/a>; Lung health priorities \u2018abandoned\u2019 by government<\/a>;\u00a0Dementia rise estimate should be \u201cwake up call\u201d<\/a>; MS rehab levels up with virtual reality games<\/a>;\u00a0Microwaves offer less invasive cancer therapy<\/a><\/p>\n

Sign up to our\u00a0<\/strong>bulletin<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for key health & social care updates straight to your inbox.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Edinburgh scientists have uncovered the group of genes responsible for increasing people\u2019s risk of rheumatoid arthritis, which they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3846],"tags":[267,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-246184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-genetics","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114813921448980173","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}