Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Fibrin linked to rheumatoid arthritis

Here is a very interesting article I found regarding the link between blood clotting protein and rheumatoid arthritis. Lets hope this leads to more effective medical treatment of this crippling disease.


Source: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/143267.html

"U.S. researchers say the discovery of a link between a blood clotting protein and rheumatoid arthritis could lead to new therapies for the disabling disease.

Jay Degan, a researcher in Developmental Biology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, said inflammatory joint disease appears to be driven by the engagement of inflammatory cells with fibrin matrices through a specific integrin receptor, aMB2.

The report, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggests that therapies designed to interrupt the localized interaction of inflammatory cells and fibrin may help arthritis patients.

"Our study establishes that fibrin is a powerful, although context-dependent, determinant of inflammatory joint disease," Degen, the study's lead author, said Friday in a release.

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