Wednesday, 1st March 2006 (6235 views)

The mystery of how gold helps with ailments such as arthritis might have been solved.

Scientists think they have discovered how certain gold compounds are able to treat autoimmune diseases.

A study at Harvard Medical School found that some types of gold and platinum can strip bacteria and virus particles from key immune system proteins.

Brian BeDecker, a postdoctoral student in the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, is the co-author of the study, and reveals that the findings were not entirely expected.

"We were searching for a new drug to treat autoimmune diseases, but instead we discovered a biochemical mechanism that may help explain how an old drug works."

The scientists discovered that cancer drug Cisplatin, which contains platinum, stripped foreign molecules from the MHC class II protein. This led to the discovery that other metals, including a special form of gold, could have the same effect, inactivating all MHC class II proteins.

German doctor Robert Koch found in 1890 that gold killed the bacteria that caused tuberculosis. Thereafter gold came to be used in the treatment of arthritis.

 

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