This research helps address an urgent need to understand the factors that promote progression and worsening of multi-joint osteoarthritis (MJOA), a common but understudied, progressive disease. It will leverage rich data from the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project, the ongoing Johnston County Health Study, as well as data from NC State University, to better understand factors underlying MJOA, including inflammation and gut permeability.
The forthcoming studies will also lay the groundwork for future studies to help identify therapeutic targets as well as provide a means to identify at-risk individual for preemptive management.
TARC UNC colleagues joining Dr. Amanda Nelson in this effort will include Dr. Duncan Lascelles (co-PI, NC State), Dr. Virginia Kraus (Duke), Dr. Yvonne Golightly (TARC and University of Nebraska) and UNC investigators, Drs. Shehzad Sheikh, Jordan Renner, and Richard Loeser.
Note: Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute Of Arthritis And Musculoskeletal And Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01AR080733. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.