Aberdeen Scientists Awarded Grants For Arthritis Research
TWO leading Aberdeen scientists have been awarded grants totalling more than £170,000 by the Arthritis Research Campaign for their cutting-edge work into two types of arthritis.
Professor Stuart Ralston, from the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Aberdeen, has been awarded a two-year £84,690 grant to fund his research into Paget's disease of bone - a common metabolic bone disease which affects up to three per cent of the population over the age of 55 in the UK.
His colleague Professor Richard Aspden, based in the university's Department of Orthopaedics, has been granted £88,880 over three years for work on the most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis.
Paget's disease of bone is the most common bone disorder in the UK after osteoporosis, but is not nearly so well-known. The disease effects bone growth and leads to bone turnover of up to 40 per cent, which results in abnormal, weak bones, which are more likely to fracture.
Professor Ralston and his team aim to identify the genes responsible for Paget's disease - which is known to have a strong genetic component - and find out more about the basics mechanisms which spark off the condition.
"Identification of the gene or genes responsible for Paget's disease will have important implications, not only for development of how Paget's develops, but also in understanding how bone turnover is regulated in other bone diseases such as osteoporosis," explained Professor Ralston. "It could help us find ways to prevent these diseases, or lead to better treatments."
Professor Aspden's research will examine what happens to joints after a serious impact, such as a road accident or a fall. It is already known that a serious impact to the body can lead to the development of osteoarthritis either straight away or in later life.
He and his team will look at what happens to cartilage - which provides the smooth lining to the bone in joints and causes pain when it is worn away - after a severe impact, and whether it has the ability to repair itself.
"If we can understand better the process by which the tissue breaks down, then we should stand more chance of slowing down or even preventing that process," added Professor Aspden.
