Scientists develop molecule to treat inflammatory diseases

“It is one of the first molecules we’ve ever seen that can attack this complex we call the inflammasome — and that’s in every one of our immune cells, it’s a key part of our response to infection,” he said. “But when it goes wrong, it activates these cells so then people become chronically agitated and [their] immune system goes into overdrive,” he said.

Stating that the molecule was tested on animals and blood samples from



patients in the United States, Mr. Cooper said, “Patients have donated blood samples, these are patients with a very severe form of inflammation called Muckle-Wells syndrome.”

“We can see in those patients this immune response, this inflammasome is overactive and when we give the compound to those blood samples in a laboratory we can stop that process.” Stating that the new molecule could be taken orally and would be cheaper to produce than current protein-based treatments, Mr. Cooper said the molecule was very small and passed from the gut into the bloodstream very quickly.

“But it also means it can go places that proteins can’t get to... particularly in the brain and, with multiple sclerosis, into the CNS — the central nervous system,” he said.

It was not clear whether the molecule could cure inflammatory diseases or just treat the symptoms, he added. The study is a global venture with scientists from the U.S., Trinity College in Dublin and Germany.

The next step is clinical trials. The research was published in the journal Nature Medicine.