Clinical Arthritis Research
Collaborative, interdisciplinary biomarker studies are underway in the Division of Rheumatology, including a NIH-funded knee OA biomarker study, investigating novel clusters of genes expressed by peripheral blood leukocytes that can identify patients at risk for radiographic progression.
This longitudinal study includes collaboration with the Department of Radiology to perform sequential 3.0 T MRI scans, and has already identified a cluster of genes associated with cytokine activation that predict knee OA susceptibility.
In addition, OA program has also generated additional research contracts to investigate the role of SNPs of candidate cytokine genes on cytokine gene expression and OA susceptibility and phenotype.