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Nature Reviews Publication: `MIF: a newcytokine link between rheumatoid arthritis andatherosclerosis'
02 / 05 / 2006
This week, the prestigious journal Nature Reviews Drug Discovery advancepublished online a paper by Assoc Prof Eric Morand, Chief Scientific Officer of Cortical Pty Ltd, and an Associate Professor at the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, Monash Institute for Medical Research entitled MIF: a new cytokine link between rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis'1.
The role of inflammatory cytokines such as macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has previously been well-recognised in traditional' inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. This publication highlights evidence that MIF also plays a role in the development of atherosclerosis - a leading cause of death in the Western world and increasingly well-recognized to also have a significant inflammatory basis. MIF could also be the causative link explaining the increased prevalence of atherosclerosis in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, MIF could be the reason that chronic steroid therapy, commonly used in patients with inflammatory disease, results in further acceleration of atherosclerosis in such patients. Moreover, the potential to use MIF testing as a screen for patients with increased risk of atheroma is identified.
MIF is now identified as a target for the development of drugs to treat both rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis. Cortical has an active R&D program developing such drugs and previously reported a small-molecule MIF inhibitor compound to be orally active in preclinical models of both rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis.
"Better therapies for chronic debilitating diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and for major killer diseases such as atherosclerosis are much needed. Cortical's focus on developing small molecule MIF inhibitors is driven by this strong unmet need," explained Su-Peing Ng MD, MBA, CEO of Cortical.
"Nature Reviews is one of the most respected scientific journals in the world. Cortical is pleased that the work of Dr Morand and his academic collaborators has been recognized, and we hope that this will spur further research into applying these findings into improved therapies or screening methods to improve patient outcomes.
1 Nature Reviews Drug Discovery__advance online publication, 21 April 2006 doi:10.1038/nrd2029
The role of inflammatory cytokines such as macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has previously been well-recognised in traditional' inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. This publication highlights evidence that MIF also plays a role in the development of atherosclerosis - a leading cause of death in the Western world and increasingly well-recognized to also have a significant inflammatory basis. MIF could also be the causative link explaining the increased prevalence of atherosclerosis in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, MIF could be the reason that chronic steroid therapy, commonly used in patients with inflammatory disease, results in further acceleration of atherosclerosis in such patients. Moreover, the potential to use MIF testing as a screen for patients with increased risk of atheroma is identified.
MIF is now identified as a target for the development of drugs to treat both rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis. Cortical has an active R&D program developing such drugs and previously reported a small-molecule MIF inhibitor compound to be orally active in preclinical models of both rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis.
"Better therapies for chronic debilitating diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and for major killer diseases such as atherosclerosis are much needed. Cortical's focus on developing small molecule MIF inhibitors is driven by this strong unmet need," explained Su-Peing Ng MD, MBA, CEO of Cortical.
"Nature Reviews is one of the most respected scientific journals in the world. Cortical is pleased that the work of Dr Morand and his academic collaborators has been recognized, and we hope that this will spur further research into applying these findings into improved therapies or screening methods to improve patient outcomes.
1 Nature Reviews Drug Discovery__advance online publication, 21 April 2006 doi:10.1038/nrd2029