Systemic administration of TIMP in the treatment of collagen-induced arthritis in mice.

The type II collagen induced arthritis model was used to evaluate the efficacy of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteases (TIMP) in suppressing the disease in DBA/1 mice. Treatment began following the first clinical manifestations of the disease state. Clinical observations, histological and radiographic findings show a decreased incidence of joint erosion in the treated population relative to the controls. It is concluded that systemic administration of recombinant human TIMP suppresses the pathology of type II collagen induced arthritis.