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Researchers at Duke University have modified a drug called interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL1RA) to prolong its effects and potentially making it useful for providing longer-lasting treatment for osteoarthritis. While current estimates suggest that it would take about 2 injections of the conventional drug, with the modified drug, treatments may be reduced from twice a week to perhaps twice a month.

They found that the drug, which is a protein, could be improved by attaching a second protein that clumps together at normal body temperatures. The combined drug likewise would assemble into clumps in the body to serve as "drug depots" that gradually release active drug particles, the researchers said. By remaining at the site of disease, the drug also might cause fewer negative side effects than the unmodified drug, the researchers added.

The initial proof-of-concept were presented during the Biomedical Engineering Society annual meeting, in Chicago. The results will als be published in the Journal of Controlled Release.

Source: EurekAlert