A new study, published in the journal Nature, considers the genetic pathways involved in rheumatoid arthritis.  In the field of human genetics, the main challenge is being able to understand how different components interact.  Specifically, the researchers in this study examined how to integrate disease-associated variants with diverse genomic and biological data sets to provide insight into the pathology of and guide drug discovery for a complex trait such as rheumatoid arthritis.

An analysis of the study published in BBC News Health states that this is the largest genetic study ever carried out, involving nearly 30,000 patients.  The research team compared the DNA of arthritis patients with those without the disease and found 42 mutated or deficient areas that were linked with the disease. The hope is that drugs can be developed to compensate for these faults.  This finding could be used to develop new drug therapies that would be a targeted approach as opposed to the trial-and-error method by which drug therapies are currently developed.

This approach could also be expanded beyond rheumatoid arthritis.  This approach could be used to identify drug targets for other complex diseases, which includes not only rheumatoid arthritis, but also diabetes, Alzheimer’s and coronary heart disease.  Some criticize his method, which looks at a drug that identifies and silences genetic weak areas for complex diseases, which are known as single nucleotide polymorphisms.  Critics argue that there is little or no evidence that these methods for drugs will relieve any symptoms.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that typically affects the small joints in the hands and feet, reports the Mayo Clinic.  Unlike the wear-and-tear damage of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis affects the lining of the joints, causing a painful swelling that can eventually result in bone erosion and joint deformity.  An autoimmune disorder, rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own tissues.  In addition to causing joint problems, rheumatoid arthritis sometimes can affect other organs of the body, including the skin, eyes, lungs, and blood vessels.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 27 million adults have arthritis, with 1.5 million that have rheumatoid arthritis.  It is projected that by 2030, an estimated 67 million Americans ages 18 years or older will have a doctor-diagnosed arthritis.  Having arthritis impedes daily activities, with almost 44% of adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritis reporting no leisure time physical activity compared with 36% of adults without arthritis.