Finding new uses for anti-inflammatory drug

Inflammation is how the body heals an infection or injury. Swelling, redness, and pain are signs of inflammation. But sometimes this happens even when there is no infection or injury. This is the case in conditions like arthritis. PDE4 is a protein. It does many things in the body. One of its main jobs is to promote inflammation. Apremilast is an anti-inflammatory drug. It is approved to treat a type of arthritis. This drug stops the protein PDE4 from working. So, this drug may help treat many types of inflammatory conditions. Vanderbilt scientists are looking for conditions linked to PDE4 and similar genes. This may tell us if apremilast can help treat other conditions. They will also look for new genes linked to these conditions. These findings may lead to new treatments.