A clinical trial funded by Arthritis Research UK and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) led by professors from the Universities of Liverpool and Bristol has discovered a drug combination that could help thousands of children with arthritis. Over 5,000 children and adolescents with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) in the UK are likely to develop uveitis, a condition that causes inflammation in the middle layer of the eye. The drug combination discovery will help preventing them from serious complications, including blindness. The trial was the first of its kind in the world and the findings are a major step forward for children with JIA. The drug therapy has already been approved for use and the study is published today in The New England Journal of Medicine. The article is titled “Adalimumab Plus Methotrexate for Uveitis in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.” The trial's Co-Chief Investigators, Professors Michael Beresford and A. V. Ramanan, and colleagues from across the UK, found that a drug called adalimumab, in combination with methotrexate, was an effective therapy in children and adolescents with JIA-associated uveitis. The majority (75 per cent) of those children treated with adalimumab experienced a significant reduction in eye inflammation.Login Or Register To Read Full Story