thinkarthritis.com - The transformation in her laboratory mice was so
dramatic that Israeli biochemist Prof. Rachel Levy could not believe
her eyes when she first saw the results. The mice, suffering from
severe rheumatoid arthritis, had been unable to move because of their
extremely swollen and deformed paws and limbs. But within six days of
treatment with an innovative anti-inflammatory antisense drug, the
inflammation was reduced so significantly, the mice were running about
normally.

Levy's breakthrough in discovering the drug, labeled BL-3030, was the
result of years of extensive research focused on host defense
mechanism against infections and inflammation, a common cause of death
particularly among the elderly.

Inflammation is a critical factor in numerous diseases affecting a
significant part of the population worldwide. Rheumatoid arthritis is
a chronic and often debilitating autoimmune disease in which the
body's immune system attacks joint tissue, leading to pain,
inflammation, deformity and disability that can be permanent.

At present, inflammatory diseases are treated with steroids or non-
steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These drugs have either limited
therapeutic benefit or severe side effects, which prevent their long-
term use.

Levy's BL-3030 molecule, prevents the synthesis of a protein known as
cytosolic phospholipase A2, which has a critical role in development
of inflammation.

"It is very specific molecule and, at least in the mouse model, has no
side effects. Arthritis in mice is very similar to that suffered in
humans," said Levy, a professor of clinical biochemistry and head of
the Division of Basic Sciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences of
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; and also head of the Infectious
Diseases Laboratory at Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheva.

... http://www.thinkarthritis.com/article-2996128.htm

Tim SIlva