Study finds key to easing symptoms of Ross River
Siobhain Ryan; 6/5/08
Ausralian researchers believe they have made a major breakthrough in combating the debilitating arthritic effects of Ross River virus after pinpointing the cells and proteins that cause the symptoms. Virologist Suresh Mahalingam and his University of Canberra team have identified the immune cells, called macrophages, that cause arthritis in Ross River virus sufferers and have found drugs to combat the symptoms. “This is a world-first in terms of identifying the mechanism of the disease, simply because we have an animal model to do this research,” Professor Mahalingam said. “By using this model, we have identified a drug to ameliorate the symptoms.” The drug, sulfasalazine, is already commercially available to treat other illnesses, such as Crohn’s disease.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23652144-30417,00.html