New research to develop a test for rheumatoid arthritis
A Newcastle doctor has been awarded charitable funding to carry out important research which could ultimately develop a diagnostic test for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
RA is a serious inflammatory form of arthritis, affecting almost 400,000 people in the UK, leading to painful, swollen joints, and in severe cases, considerable disability.
Now Dr Arthur Pratt, who is based at the Musculoskeletal Research Group at Newcastle University, has been awarded a clinical research fellowship of £195,500 over three years by the Arthritis Research Campaign to find ways of speeding up the diagnosis of early RA at the onset of symptoms.
Dr Pratt, who is also a specialist registrar in rheumatology at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, has been actively involved in the development of the early arthritis clinic over the past two years, and as part of the study, will use genetic material taken from the blood of more than 80 patients attending the clinic.
“There is an urgent need for an improved diagnostic tool for RA to ensure prompt treatment and to avert disability,” explained Dr Pratt. “It should be treated as soon as possible, but in its early stages it can be difficult to distinguish from other, less damaging types of joint inflammation.
“Inflammation in RA is in large part co-ordinated by particular white blood cells, so careful study of the genes that are switched on in these cells may help us to distinguish between different types of arthritis at the onset.”
Dr Pratt will use sophisticated but established laboratory techniques to examine “active” genes in patients with different types of arthritis.
“My ultimate aim is to develop a molecular gene signature that, along with symptoms, signs and other blood tests, will help us to diagnose RA in its earliest stages,” he added. “This will in turn allow us to direct treatment to those patients that will most benefit from it.”
A spokesman for the Arthritis Research Campaign, which currently funds almost £2m of research at the University of Newcastle – said Dr Pratt’s and the Musculoskeletal Research Group’s translational research was extremely important, as the need to diagnose and treat RA early was vital for a patient’s quality of life and to control the course of the disease.
