Trending
Dear Dr. Roach: I was really interested in reading your recent columns on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other inflammatory arthritic conditions. I've taken most medications that you mentioned in your column. However, there's a product called PS372424 that's been in research since 2014, yet no medical rheumatology departments have even involved patients in taking it. This is a nontoxic alternative to all the medications that are given to children and adults for inflammatory arthritic diseases.
I'm in the United Kingdom, but I'd be really interested to hear what our American doctor friends think about pursuing the use of PS372424. -- M.T.
Answer: PS372424 is a small molecule that modulates the effect of a receptor called CXCR3, which has complex actions on the movement and activity of immune cells. This especially goes for T4 and T8 cells, but many other cells as well.
PS372424 itself never entered clinical trials, as it was designed as a tool to study the CXCR3 system -- not as a drug for clinical use. (PS372424 stimulates CXCR3, and the drugs that have entered clinical trials block the effect of CXCR3.) Only one of the compounds that block the effect of CXCR3 entered clinical trials (AMG487), but unfortunately, it didn't show enough of a clinical benefit to get beyond early trials.
It's common for new discoveries (like the CXCR3 receptor's effects on the chemokine system) to lead to optimism about major medical advances. Unfortunately, the path from basic science knowledge to new clinical treatments is longer and more arduous than we'd like it to be. It can still be hoped that a better understanding of this incredibly complex system with multiple redundancies could lead to effective treatments.
There are currently many effective treatments for RA that are much safer than they used to be and less dangerous than leaving RA untreated.
Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu.