Durham lecturer awarded major arthritis grant to investigate painful arthritic condition
A Durham lecturer has been awarded a major grant by a medical research charity to investigate a painful form of arthritis known as “poker back.”
Dr Adam Benham, a lecturer at the University of Durham's department of biological sciences has been awarded a three-year, £118,618 grant from the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc) to find out what causes ankylosing spondylitis.
Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory type of arthritis which starts with stiffness in the lower back, but can lead to irreversible loss of movement in severe cases. It is five times more common in men than in women, and famous sufferers include comedian Lee Hurst and golfer Ian Woosnam.
There is a strong genetic element to developing ankylosing spondylitis, with more than 96 per cent of sufferers having a gene called HLA-B27.
“This project is designed to answer an important longstanding question about arthritis – why does HLA-B27 predispose so many people to anykylosing spondylitis?” explained Dr Benham. “There are many theories about why HLA-B27 is so closely linked to the condition, but nobody really knows why.”
Dr Benham and his colleagues plan to find out, by examining the HLA-B27 molecule in detail to see how it differs from other molecules. By understanding how it is made, they hope to understand how and why it causes disease.
“Once these details are understood, drugs that would prevent HLA-B27 contributing to ankylosing spondylitis could be developed,” added Dr Benham.
The Arthritis Research Campaign is the fourth biggest medical research charity in the UK and in the past 12 months raised more than £26m from public donations to fund its extensive research programme.
