New Vaccine for Rheumatoid Arthritis Developed

The protein-based vaccine shows significant promise in preventing rheumatoid arthritis and improving bone quality, suggesting long-term benefits following immunization.

An experimental vaccine developed by researchers at The University of Toledo showed promising results in preventing rheumatoid arthritis, a painful autoimmune disease that cannot currently be cured.

The findings are detailed in a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that generally represent the breakthroughs in the study of rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune diseases.

Rheumatoid Arthritis - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, FAQs
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes pain, swelling, stiffness and loss of function in the joints.

‘A vaccine-based strategy targeting a protein can prevent rheumatoid arthritis with maximum benefits.’

Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the most common autoimmune diseases that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and breaks down the tissue present in the lining of joints in the hands, wrists, ankles, and knees.

Some estimates suggest rheumatoid arthritis affects as much as 1% of the global population.

“Despite its high prevalence, there is no cure and we don’t entirely know what brings it on. This is true of nearly all autoimmune diseases, which makes treating or preventing them so difficult,” said Dr. Ritu Chakravarti, an assistant professor in the UToledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences and the paper’s lead author.

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Researchers focused on a protein called 14-3-3 zeta, which they considered as a potential trigger for rheumatoid arthritis based on their previous work.

During this research, they discovered that removing that protein through gene-editing technology caused severe early-onset arthritis in animal models.

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Role of the protein cpeb4 helps in the generation of cells critical to bone maintenance. Better understanding of bone and joint diseases may contribute to the development of therapeutic strategies for major diseases like osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Based on this new theory that the 14-3-3 zeta protein protects against rheumatoid arthritis, researchers developed a protein-based vaccine using purified 14-3-3 zeta protein grown in a bacterial cell.

In addition to suppressing the development of arthritis, the vaccine also significantly improved bone quality, a finding that suggests there should be long-term benefits following immunization.

Diet, Nutrition and Supplements for Osteo-Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis patients should consume a diet rich in natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients and avoid foods like sugar, saturated fats, and trans fatty acids.

Currently, rheumatoid arthritis is treated primarily with corticosteroids, broad-scale immunosuppressive drugs, or newer, more targeted biologics that target a specific inflammatory process.

While those therapeutics can alleviate pain and slow the progression of the disease, they also can make patients more vulnerable to infection and can be costly.

Researchers have filed for a patent on their discovery and are seeking pharmaceutical industry partners to support safety and toxicity studies in hopes of establishing a preclinical trial.

Source-Medindia