Arthritis drug prevents blindness

Behcet's disease causes serious inflammation of the eye

An arthritis drug that is also used to treat psoriasis and bowel disease could prevent a form of blindness.

Researchers have found that the drug, infliximab, stopped sufferers of Behcet's disease from losing their sight.

Behcet's disease is a chronic illness of the immune system. The cause is unknown.

The immune system, which normally protects the body against infections by producing controlled inflammation, becomes over-active and produces unpredictable out-breaks of unwanted and exaggerated inflammation.

This extra inflammation affects blood vessels, usually the small ones, throughout the body.

It can cause blindness, stroke, arthritis, ulcers of the mouth and genitals, nervous system symptoms and intestinal problems.

Patients are given drugs to suppress their immune system.

However, about 70% are still at risk of blindness from recurring inflammation of the eye.

In a study of five people suffering from a relapse of the illness, a single injection of the drug reduced eye inflammation that could have caused permanent damage.

Rapid effect

Researcher Dr Petros Sfikakis, of Athens University Medical School in Greece, said: "Remission of ocular [eye] inflammation was evident within the first 24 hours, and complete suppression was seen seven days after treatment in all patients."

The fact that the drug appears to work fast is crucial as the disease, if untreated, can rapidly lead to long-term visual impairment.

It appears to work by blocking the action of an immune protein that promotes inflammation and is found at higher than normal levels in the blood of people with Behcet's disease.

Georgina Seaman, information officer for the UK Behcet's Syndrome Society, told BBC News Online that the society had heard of several other cases of people benefitting from infliximab.

However, she said UK patients could not access the drug, because it had not been made available to them.

No-one knows for sure how many sufferers there are in the UK but it is estimated that there are about one in every 50,000 people.

It is much less rare in the Middle East and in Asia.

Because it seems to be prevalent in the areas surrounding the old silk trading routes, it is sometimes known as the 'Silk Route' disease.

Infliximab is made by Johnson & Johnson's Centocor division under the brand name Remicade.

The research is published in the Lancet.