Adipokines in Osteoarthritis

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Metabolic Mediators of Inflammation and their role in patholgical Joint Tissue Cross-Talk that Drives Osteoarthritis

• IRAS ID

  158458

• Contact name

  Simon W Jones

• Contact email

  s.w.jones@bham.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Research Governance and Ethics Manager, University of Birmingham

• Research summary

  In order to develop therapeutics in osteoarthritis (OA) it is important to better understand the pathophysiology of the disease and the molecular signalling pathways that underpin it.
  Importantly, there is increasing evidence of a link between dysfunctional metabolism and inflammatory joint disease. It is well known that Obesity is a risk factor for OA, but the relationship may not simply be due to increased load on the
  joint, since body mass index is also associated with the development of OA in non–weightbearing joints such as the hands. This is suggestive of a potential link between dysfunctional metabolism and joint damage. One group of proteins that may provide a link between metabolism, inflammation and joint damage are the adiposesecreted cytokines (adipokines).
  We recently showed that serum levels of particular adipokines are associated with biomarkers of bone remodelling and cartilage volume loss in knee OA patients. However, the pathological signalling pathways mediated by adipokines in the joints of OA patients remains unclear. This research will further our understanding of the role of adipokines in OA by investigating the molecular mechanisms by which the adipokines impact on OA cartilage and bone remodelling in order to identify key targets for potential therapeutic intervention

• REC name

  East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 2

• REC reference

  14/ES/1044

• Date of REC Opinion

  12 Aug 2014

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion