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Overactive immune response silenced by new anti-inflammatory agents



A new way to fight inflammation uses molecules called polymers to mop up the debris of damaged cells before the immune system becomes abnormally active, researchers at Duke University Medical Center report.

The discovery, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers a promising new approach to treat inflammatory auto-immune disorders such as lupus and multiple sclerosis, which are marked by an overactive immune response.

"Depending on the disease, cells that are damaged drive or perpetuate the immune response," said Bruce A. Sullenger, Ph.D., director of the Duke Translational Research Institute and senior author of the study. "We have shown that we can inhibit that process."

Sullenger said the idea for the new approach stems from earlier findings by Duke scientists and others that dying and diseased cells spill nucleic acids - the building blocks of life that include DNA and RNA - that then circulate at high levels in the bloodstream.... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... ageid/1100

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