| |
The challenge in treating autoimmune disorders has been suppressing inflammatory attacks without generally suppressing immune function. Now, researchers Mark Sundrud, PhD and Anjana Rao, PhD, of the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Children’s and the Immune Disease Institute (PCMM/IDI), find promise in halofuginone, a drug from the hydrangea root used as an antimalarial in traditional Chinese medicine.
In the June 5 Science, Dr. Sundrud, Dr. Rao and collaborators at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine show that halofuginone prevents the development of Th17 cells, recently recognized T-cells that have been implicated in a variety of autoimmune disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, eczema and psoriasis. Th17 cells inflict their harm mainly by secreting IL-17, an inflammatory trigger. Halofuginone suppressed IL-17 and reduced disease severity in a mouse model of multiple-sclerosis-like autoimmune disease, without altering T-cells involved in normal immune function.
Because it’s a small-molecule drug, halofuginone has the potential to be taken orally rather than injected. The researchers hope to see analogue developed for clinical use.
|
|
| |
