Rheumatoid arthritis sufferers, note: Scientists report that an antibiotic used to treat acne significantly improves swollen, painful joints if therapy begins in the crippling disease's early stages.
Rheumatologists said the new study by the University of Nebraska provides enough proof of minocycline's benefit that the drug soon may be widely prescribed."This isn't a cure," cautioned the lead researcher, Dr. James O'Dell, who presented his study at a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology. "If the medicine is stopped, the problem comes back."
But O'Dell said the drug appears to offer a unique arthritis protection: It seems to block enzymes, called metalloproteinases, that destroy irreplaceable cartilage inside joints.
"By inhibiting these metallo-proteinases early on, maybe we can help shut off the whole inflammation cascade" that goes out of control in later stages of the disease, O'Dell said.
If his theory is right, these enzymes also could have implications for treatment of the much more common osteoarthritis that plagues the elderly. Tests in osteoarthritic dogs suggest anti-enzyme compounds offer similar protection, prompting other scientists to begin clinical trials of a minocycline cousin - called doxycycline - in people with osteoarthritis.