Re: Unexpected finding opens up new way to stop autoimmune diseases

There are so many medical news now. I don't think anyone can say there is
nothing new under the sun!

--
Navy
Take out the FISH to email me.
"Nann Bell" <hanbellGOGATORS@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:0001HW.C59EB75406486722F0284550@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
OMG - someone posted this in the crohn's & colitis group and it truly
sounds
like a major breakthrough. Hang on, there is hope!
Nann

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-01/foas-ufo012209.php

Unexpected finding opens up new way to stop autoimmune diseases and
transplant rejection
New report in the FASEB Journal shows how antibodies block the S1P
receptor on T cells

After several years of battling recurring infections, the last thing a
patient and her doctors ever expected was that the cause of her
problems might actually help millions live longer, more active lives.
Now, researchers have high hopes because Edward Goetzl and his
colleagues from the University of California and The Ohio State
University discovered that the patient made a unique antibody to her
own T cells, the cells that mediate much of autoimmunity. Acting on
the surface of T cells via a novel mechanism, the antibody reduced the
number of T cells in her blood stream: a result that usually requires
a host of "immunosuppressive" and possibly toxic drugs. Their research
discovery, published online in The FASEB Journal, may lead to entirely
new therapies for a wide range of autoimmune disorders, such as
colitis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and
multiple sclerosis, as well as new ways to prevent transplant
rejection.

"The possibility that these antibodies can be used to treat diverse
autoimmune diseases with minimal risk of infections represents a new
horizon for reversing these disabling and often fatal conditions,"
said Edward Goetzl, a senior researcher involved in the study.

In the research report, Goetzl and colleagues explain how they
discovered that the antibodies produced by this patient blocked the
sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor on T cells. The S1P receptor is
a cell-surface antenna that receives signals telling T cells to leave
the lymph nodes and patrol the body. When this antenna was disabled,
the T cells failed to leave the lymph nodes (chemotaxis), reducing
their numbers in the bloodstream. Taking this discovery one step
further, the researchers created more of the patient's antibodies in
the laboratory and gave them to mice with colitis (an autoimmune
disorder). After receiving the antibodies, symptoms of colitis were
reduced.

"This discovery is very good news for people with autoimmune
disorders." said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB
Journal "It also shows that when modern scientists work out exactly
what is wrong with one patient they can come up with unexpected new
ways to treat many thousands.


---
Nann
remove the Gator cheer to email me
Change everything. Love & forgive.




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