Through the application of the experimental strategy, this program has the potential to provide new insights into the immune response initiating or perpetuating the inflammation. The program is therefore directly relevant to the underlying cause of arthritis and asthma. We are hopeful that the results of this analysis can be used as a prognosticator of disease course and suggest new approaches to treatment. Attempts at immune intervention in these diseases will benefit from a detailed characterization of the T cell diversity. We have recently begun a new program exploring the possibility of using gene therapy in arthritis.
Joints are difficult to target therapeutically.
Most routes of delivery provide poor access to the joint. Systemic delivery exposes many tissues to any side effects produced by the high concentrations of medications required to achieve sufficient concentrations in the joint space. Direct intraarticular injection has the problem of short half lives in the joint and a chronic polyarticular disease like rheumatoid arthritis would require multiple injections over time. In an attempt to reduce joint erosion and inflammation in arthritis, we will introduce genes into synovial cells that code for proteins that reduce inflammation or reduce the proliferation of synovial cells. Doherty, P. J., et al.