A newly discovered protein may play a key role in controlling the tissue damage caused by rheumatoid arthritis, researchers have reported.
The discovery should provide a new genetic marker – and could mean that by increasing levels of the protein, C5orf30, doctors could help prevent damage caused by the disease, the researchers said.
The findings come from a study of more than 1,000 patients from Sheffield, UK, and from Ireland, conducted jointly by Sheffield University and University College Dublin.
It was announced last night in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Researcher Professor Gerry Wilson, who holds appointments in Dublin and Sheffield, said: “Our findings provide a genetic marker that could be used to identify those rheumatoid arthritis patients who require more aggressive treatments or personalised medicine.
“They also point to the possibility that increasing the levels of C5orf30 in the joints might be a novel method of reducing tissue damage caused by rheumatoid arthritis.”
Fellow researcher Dr Munitta Muthana, from Sheffield University’s medical school, said: “These exciting findings will prompt us to further explore the role of this highly conserved protein that we know so little about, and its significance in human health and disease.”
C5orf30 is a negative regulator of tissue damage in rheumatoid arthritis. PNAS 31 August 2015 [abstract]
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