A composition for preventing or treating inflammatory arthritis wherein the composition comprises an innate defence regulatory peptide named IDR-1002, said peptide comprising an amino acid sequence listing of VQRWLIVWRIRK, and/or a derivative thereof and/or an analog thereof. Use of the IDR-1002 peptide and/or a derivative thereof and/or an analog or a composition comprising the peptide and/or a derivative and/or analog to modulate the expression and/or function of an inflammatory cytokine and/or a matrix metallopeptidase-3 and/or a cell-signalling pathway.
