The outcome of this research was reported in the July 2008 issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism and supported by an Institutional Research Development Award from Children's Hospital and development research awards from the Cotswold Foundation, the Nickolett Fund, and the Arthritis Foundation of Eastern Pennsylvania.
Researchers found evidence that there is a "master switch" gene that may help "turn on" Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), also known as Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA).
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis causes joint inflammation and begins in children younger than 16, but it can continue into the adult years. This type of arthritis takes on many forms, and in some cases affects the internal organs as well as the joints. There are an estimated 300,000 children in the U. S. that have Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.
At The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia researchers looked at 67 people with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and 1,952 without Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. They found that those with all types of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis were more likely than the other group to have a particular genetic variant in the in the region on chromosome 9 where the TRAF1 and C5 genes sit. This very same gene region plays a role in some cases of adult rheumatoid arthritis as well. The researchers didn't know which of the two genes is the "master switch," but they speculate that when it is "turned on," it interacts with other genes and with environmental factors to bring about Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.
The researchers are hoping that a better understanding of the genetic factors underlying Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis can help them develop more targeted treatments that have fewer side effects.
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