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Brian Vastag

JAMA. 2002;288:1457-1458.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Boston—Separate research groups at Brigham and Women's Hospital here are working to clarify the mysterious origins of rheumatoid arthritis, the most common autoimmune condition in the United States, affecting between 1% and 2% of the population. One group, led by a biochemist, reports that a previously unknown variety of immune cells may set off the painful condition by attacking carbohydrate molecules in the joints. The other group, led by a rheumatologist, identifies mast cells—known as the culprits behind allergic reactions—as responsible for the characteristic chronic inflammation.

While drugs to treat symptoms are continually improving, the long-standing mystery shrouding the origin of rheumatoid arthritis has stymied finding more efficacious treatments. But the new findings, if confirmed, would offer several new approaches to stanching the autoimmune cascade that leads to the condition. In fact, the biochemists, led by Julia Wang, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, have already begun testing . . . [Full Text of this Article]