Salford medic awarded charity funding to investigate rare but serious muscle disease
A Salford doctor has been awarded a major research fellowship to find out more about a rare but potential fatal muscle condition.
Dr Hector Chinoy, a specialist registrar in rheumatology at the Hope Hospital in Salford, has been awarded a clinical research fellowship of almost £174,000 by the Arthritis Research Campaign to find out more about the genetic basis of myositis.
Little is known about myositis, which affects only a few hundred people in the UK. Myositis is the name given to a group of diseases that cause inflammation in the muscles of the body, causing pain and weakness. Many patients become disabled as a result of damage to the muscles, and in severe cases, muscles of the heart and lungs are affected and can lead to death.
"Previous research has indicated that an individual's genetic make-up may play a part in the development and severity of myositis," explained Dr Chinoy. "As myositis is rare, however, these studies have been small, and the results are inconclusive."
Dr Chinoy plans to carry out an in-depth examination of data from the largest collection of myositis patients ever assembled co-ordinated by Dr Bob Cooper at Hope Hospital, and Professor Bill Ollier at the University of Manchester. The data base of 300 UK myositis patients called the Adult Onset Immunogenetic Collaboration has been built up over the past four years as a result of collaboration between 45 consultants. Using this data, Dr Chinoy aims to find out if individual genetic make-up affects the onset and severity of the condition.
"Our preliminary data has revealed for the first time that there seems to be a genetic difference between different sub-sets of myositis, such as polymyositis and dermatomyositis," added Dr Chinoy. "What we want to do now is to build up a genetic profile of the patients on the data base, to enable us to see which particular genes may be implicated."
Ultimately the aim is to understand the mechanism behind this mysterious condition, and help to develop more effective treatments.
The Arthritis Research Campaign - the fourth medical research charity in the UK - is currently funding a major UK-wide clinical trial of myositis to establish which drugs are the most effective.
