Interleukin Genetics,
Inc. (Amex: ILI) announced today that it has initiated a study on the
genetics of osteoarthritis in collaboration with Dr. Steven Abramson,
Director of the Division of Rheumatology at the Hospital for Joint Diseases
of New York University Medical Center.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the breakdown of the cartilage cushion in one or
more joints of the body leading to pain, to limitation in movement, and in
many cases to joint replacement. More than 20 million adults in the United
States currently have some form of OA, with the number expected to double
over the next 50 years. Therapy for OA patients involves mostly pain
management, and no drugs are currently available to limit the cartilage and
bone destruction.
Some patients have OA in one joint that may have resulted from a prior
injury, but many OA patients have a more generalized form of the disease
affecting multiple joints. The generalized form of OA is often the most
challenging in terms of patient management.
"We have been working for several years to better understand why some
of our patients develop a more generalized form of OA with problems in
multiple joints," said Dr. Abramson. "Together with Interleukin Genetics we
will seek to determine if over-expression of certain disease-related
chemicals by some OA patients may be due to genetic differences, and
whether the genetic differences may increase the likelihood of developing
disease in multiple joints."
"Interleukin Genetics is pleased to be working with Dr. Abramson and
his team at the Hospital for Joint Diseases at NYU Medical Center," said
Dr. Ken Kornman, Chief Scientific Officer of Interleukin Genetics. "OA
impacts tens of millions of people around the world, who can now only turn
to pain medication for temporary relief. We have identified genetic
patterns that lead to over-production of interleukin-1, one of the key
chemicals involved in cartilage and bone destruction, and this study will
help to determine if genetic tests can be used to identify subgroups of OA
patients that may be treated more effectively."
About the Study
Interleukin Genetics is investigating whether there is an association
between candidate gene variations, either individually or in composite
patterns, and poly-articular manifestations of osteoarthritis (OA), defined
in this study as the prevalence of knee and hand OA. The study will also
evaluate the association between certain genetic patterns and the
peripheral blood mononuclear cell expression of interleukin-1 Beta in OA
patients. Interleukin-1 Beta is one of the main chemicals involved in
destruction of collagen and bone.
Variations in the interleukin-1 (IL-1) gene family have been shown to
be associated with increased risk for other diseases that involve bone and
connective tissues, including osteoporosis and periodontal disease. Using
its proprietary IL-1 technology, Interleukin Genetics is now collaborating
with NYU Medical Center and the Division of Rheumatology to study IL-1
genetic links to the form of osteoarthritis that affects multiple joints
and may be the result of a systemic over-expression of key biological
mediators, such as interleukin-1 Beta.
This study is under the direction of Dr. Steven Abramson, Director of
the Division of Rheumatology and Dr. Mukundan Attur, Director of the
Rheumatology Research Laboratory at the New York University Hospital for
Joint Diseases.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common adult joint disease, increasing
in frequency and severity in all aging populations. The estimated U.S.
prevalence is 20-40 million patients or 5 times that of rheumatoid
arthritis. OA involvement of the hand, knee, hip and spine is common, with
total knee replacements numbering over 250,000/yr and total hip
replacements numbering over 150,000 per year in the U.S. alone. OA may
involve a single joint or multiple joints in the same individual, with
current therapy focused on pain relief as there is no FDA-approved therapy
that arrests or reverses the joint deterioration. The etiology of OA is
multifactorial involving both mechanical and biochemical factors. OA
progression is associated with accelerated cartilage degradation leading to
joint space narrowing, painful joint disruption, and functional compromise.
The pattern of expression for OA in many ways mimics that of osteoporosis
in that it is more common in women than in men, and it appears to be
related to postmenopausal changes with hormone replacement therapy
suppressing cartilage degradation. OA disease progression is characterized
by a proinflammatory gene expression pattern in cartilage and in joint
synovium, with a reactive increase in bone density in the subchondral bone.
Substantial data provide support for a central role of interleukin-1 in the
pathogenesis of OA including animal susceptibility models and models of
IL-1-targeted therapy.
About Interleukin
Interleukin Genetics, Inc. (Amex: ILI) is a genetics-focused
personalized health company that develops preventive consumer products and
genetic tests for sale to the emerging personalized health market. Focused
on the future of health and medicine, Interleukin uses its leading genetics
research and scientific capabilities to develop and test innovative
preventive and therapeutic products. Interleukin currently offers an array
of Nutraceuticals and OTCeuticals, including Ginkoba(R), Ginsana(R) and
Venastat(R) which are sold at the nation's largest food, drug and mass
retailers, and has commercialized genetic tests for periodontal disease
risk assessment, cardiovascular risk assessment, and general nutrition
assessment. Interleukin is headquartered in Waltham, MA. For more
information about Interleukin and its ongoing programs, please visit
ilgenetics.
Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking" statements
including statements regarding our ability to develop diagnostic,
personalized nutritional and therapeutic products to prevent or treat
diseases of inflammation and other genetic variations, our ability to
screen nutritional compounds for their effects on inflammatory responses
and other genetic variations, given specific genetic patterns and our
ability to make progress in advancing our core technologies. Because such
statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ
materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expressed or implied by such forward- looking statements
include, but are not limited to, the risk of market acceptance of our
products, the risk of technology and product obsolescence, delays in
product development, the performance of our commercial partners, the
availability of adequate capital, the actions of our competitors and other
competitive risks, and those risks and uncertainties described in our
annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 as amended,
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, our quarterly reports on
Form 10- Q and other filings made by us with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. We disclaim any obligation or intention to update these
forward-looking statements.
Interleukin Genetics, Inc.
ilgenetics
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