| 1. |
- Ahlqvist, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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The value of animal models in predicting genetic susceptibility to complex diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Arthritis Research and Therapy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1478-6362 .- 1478-6354. ; 11:3
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- ABSTRACT: For a long time, genetic studies of complex diseases were most successfully conducted in animal models. However, the field of genetics is now rapidly evolving, and human genetics has also started to produce strong candidate genes for complex diseases. This raises the question of how to continue gene-finding attempts in animals and how to use animal models to enhance our understanding of gene function. In this review we summarize the uses and advantages of animal studies in identification of disease susceptibility genes, focusing on rheumatoid arthritis. We are convinced that animal genetics will remain a valuable tool for the identification and investigation of pathways that lead to disease, well into the future.
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| 2. |
- Gelderman, Kyra, et al.
(författare)
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Rheumatoid arthritis: The role of reactive oxygen species in disease development and therapeutic strategies
- 2007
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Ingår i: Antioxidants & Redox Signaling. - : Mary Ann Liebert Inc. - 1557-7716 .- 1523-0864. ; 9:10, s. 1541-1567
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are chronic diseases that cannot be prevented or cured. If the pathologic basis of such diseases would be known, it might be easier to develop new drugs interfering with critical pathways. Genetic analysis of animal models for autoimmune diseases can result in discovery of proteins and pathways that play a key function in pathogenesis, which may provide rationales for new therapeutic strategies. Currently, only the MHC class II is clearly associated with human RA and animal models for RA. However, recent data from rats and mice with a polymorphism in Ncf1, a member of the NADPH oxidase complex, indicate a role for oxidative burst in protection from arthritis. Oxidative burst-activating substances can treat and prevent arthritis in rats, as efficiently as clinically applied drugs, suggesting a novel pathway to a therapeutic target in human RA. Here, the authors discuss the role of oxygen radicals in regulating the immune system and autoimmune disease. It is proposed that reactive oxygen species set the threshold for T cell activation and thereby regulate chronic autoimmune inflammatory diseases like RA. In the light of this new hypothesis, new possibilities for preventive and therapeutic treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases are discussed.
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