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Key discovery in Psoriatic Arthritis points way for developing targeted treatments

General Research

A new study has revealed psoriatic arthritis may be activated by the same trigger in different patients. Researchers from the University of Oxford and the Wellcome Sanger Institute identified high levels of a specific receptor in immune cells from psoriatic arthritis patients, giving the strongest evidence yet of a single cause for the disease.

medical form with diagnosis psoriatic arthritis

A new study has revealed psoriatic arthritis may be activated by the same trigger in different patients. Researchers from the University of Oxford and the Wellcome Sanger Institute identified high levels of a specific receptor in immune cells from psoriatic arthritis patients, giving the strongest evidence yet of a single cause for the disease.

Published today (21 September) in Nature Communications, this could lead to finding the exact molecular 'trigger' and gives hope for developing a targeted treatment in the future.

A third of patients with the skin condition psoriasis, will develop psoriatic arthritis, which typically causes affected joints to become swollen, stiff and painful. Psoriatic arthritis is a long-term condition that can get progressively worse over time. While some treatments are available there is currently no cure, and in severe disease the joints can become permanently damaged, needing surgery.

The full story is available on the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology & Musculoskeletal Sciences website

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