Arthritis drug hope for hand condition

Arthritis drugs could be used to treat a common but debilitating hand condition, researchers have found.

Academics at Glasgow University have discovered that two treatments usually used for arthritis could help people suffering from Dupuytren’s contracture, sometimes known as the “Viking” disease.

The condition causes one or more fingers to curl in towards the palm when the tissue under the skin near the fingers becomes thicker and less flexible. Scots are more likely to suffer from the condition that those from other parts of the UK.

Neal Millar, a clinical senior lecturer who led the research, said: “Until now, there has been nothing out there for these patients.”

Drugs known as cytokine inhibitors have been in use for about 15 years, mainly in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. JAK inhibitors became available five years ago and are also used to treat inflammatory arthritis.

The Glasgow team said a therapeutic trial could start in a year, potentially paving the way for the drugs to be cleared for general use for Dupuytren’s in two to three years.

Dupuytren’s contracture disease is named after the trailblazing 19th Century French surgeon Baron Guillaume Dupuytren who treated military leader Napoleon Bonaparte.