RIO study v1.0

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Role of inflammation in Osteoarthritis (RIO)

• IRAS ID

  141882

• Research summary

  This study aims to increase our understanding of the role of inflammation in osteoarthritis. It is a chronic disease of the joints more commonly diagnosed in elderly patients. For many decades, it was considered to be a disease caused by wear and tear to the joints. However, it is now thought that low level ongoing inflammation may be damaging the joint tissue. This causes decreased mobility, pain and a reduced quality of life.

  Current therapies help to reduce the pain but they are only modestly effective at decreasing the ongoing damage. Thus, many patients eventually require joint replacement surgery. Over 115,000 hip and knee replacements were performed by the NHS in England and Wales in 2011. Understanding the events that cause inflammation and joint damage will be an important step towards developing new therapies for patients in the future.

  This research will examine if innate immune receptors are involved in producing inflammation in the joints of osteoarthritis patients. To do this we plan to examine these receptors in joint tissue from patients. We also plan to examine blood samples, as blood cells moving into the joints can also generate inflammation. Patients from the local hospitals will be invited to donate blood and joint tissue removed and discarded during joint surgery. For comparison, healthy volunteers (for blood samples) and patients undergoing joint surgery for other conditions will also be invited to donate samples. These samples will then be examined at Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

• REC name

  Wales REC 7

• REC reference

  14/WA/1016

• Date of REC Opinion

  20 Jun 2014

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion