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Tuesday, 23rd October 2007 (4449 views)

A group of scientists at Duke University have re-awakened interest in the hundred-year-old theory that gold salts can relieve the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory medical conditions.

Physicians in the early 1900s used injections of gold salts to reduce the inflammation and pain of rheumatoid arthritis, but the treatment, though highly effective, was abandoned due to its uncomfortable side effects, including potential kidney damage.

But the scientists, including Dr David Pisetsky, chief of rheumatology and immunology at Duke University's department of medicine, say that gold salts should not be dismissed as an arthritis treatment.

Their research on the immune systems of mice and humans found that gold salts block the HMBG1 molecule, which is responsible for enhanced inflammation in arthritis sufferers.

Dr Pisetsky said that when the molecule is prevented from being released through gold salt treatment, the inflammatory response to arthritis is weakened.

"Now that we have identified at least one of the ways gold can help arthritis sufferers, perhaps we can use that knowledge to build new and safer-acting gold-based treatments," he said.

He added that further studies must be undertaken outside of laboratory situations to monitor the impact of the mechanism on people.

A detailed report on the study is scheduled to be published in the January 2008 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.

 

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