Osteoarthritis is the “wear and tear” form of arthritis. It results from a breakdown of cartilage that protects the ends of the bones. Osteoarthritis is most common in the hip and knee and is the most frequent reason for total knee and hip replacement surgery.

The current methods used to diagnose osteoarthritis are ineffective prior to an advanced stage where permanent joint damage has occurred. Being able to diagnose osteoarthritis at an earlier stage could provide an opportunity to reduce or prevent permanent damage. Early in the disease it may be possible to successfully treat it with dietary supplements and medications.

Now NYU researchers Alexej Jerschow, Ph.D. and Ravinder R. Regatte, Ph.D. have developed a new scan that may provide that hoped for early diagnosis.

This new test is based on a modified form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This imaging identifies the concentration of glycosaminogycan (GAG), a polymer that holds water and gives cartilage its toughness and elasticity. According to Jerschow, a low concentration of GAG is known to correlate with the inception of osteoarthritis and other cartilage disorders.

“Our methods have the potential of providing early warning signs for cartilage disorders like osteoarthritis, thus potentially avoiding surgery and physical therapy later on,” states Jerschow. “Also, the effectiveness of early preventative drug therapies can be better assessed with these methods.”

The new imaging “tags” the hydrogen atoms that are attached to the GAGs to determine the concentration of GAG in the cartilage.

“Given the lack of knowledge about OA, I think any method that is noninvasive and relatively easy to apply will be quite valuable. Not only do you address diagnosis, but you address how we can understand OA’s mechanism,” says Jerschow.

The new test could also be used to determine the efficacy of the medications used to treat osteoarthritis. In fact, pharmaceutical companies have already requested information on using the new imaging to show that their drugs work.

According to Dr. Regatte, the time and cost for the GAG scan is essentially the same as a normal MRI. It is even possible to get a diagnosis on the same day.

Drs. Jerschow and Regatte presented their findings on August 21st at the 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia.

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Researchers at the University of Southampton, led by Dr. Jo Adams, have concluded that wearing a specific type of silver ring splint is beneficial for alleviating symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They found that this particular silver ring splint is effective in controlling hyperextension deformity in finger joints.

Hyperextension Deformity

Until now, people with arthritis in their hands had to use bulky plastic splints to get relief from the symptoms. The new silver splints have been found to be longer lasting, stronger and more comfortable. The purpose of the splints is to provide stability to the finger joints.

Cynthia Garris, an occupational therapist, was herself diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 1974. She knew the benefit of using splints but was aware that the splints that existed at the time did not address long term use. So in 1985 she initially designed and manufactured a new series of silver splints. They are used by arthritis suferrers who find that they cannot use their hands to the extent that they were able before developing rheumatoid arthritis. The splints can be used for every day tasks or very specific or involved tasks.

Wessex Medical Research awarded a grant to fund the team’s research. The findings were published in a paper, ‘Three dimensional function motion analysis of silver ring splints in Rheumatoid Arthritis’.

Dr Jo Adams, who co-authored the report, was awarded the Arthritis Research Campaign Silver Medal at the British Society of Rheumatology’s annual meeting. The Arthritis Research Campaign prize in rheumatology is presented annually by medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign to five healthcare professionals working with people with arthritis in the fields of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing, podiatry and other related areas.

The collaborative study was undertaken by technicians from Occupational Therapy at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester, the School of Electronics & Computer Science and the School of Health Professions and Rehabilitation Sciences from Southampton University.

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Two Scandinavian studies indicate that alcohol consumption decreases the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by up to 50%. The studies included 2,750 people who were assessed for environmental and genetic risk factors for RA.

More than half of the participants had rheumatoid arthritis while the non-RA group were selected randomly from the general population and had a similar distribution of age, sex and residence.

The study groups completed surveys related to lifestyle, including alcohol consumption and smoking. They also had blood samples taken to test for genetic risk factors.

The results revealed that alcohol consumption was associated with a substantially reduced risk of development of rheumatoid arthritis. It also showed that the risk decreased as the amount of alcohol consumed increased.

Among the regular drinkers, the top 25% in terms of alcohol consumed were 50% less likely to develop RA. This was true for both women and men. The highest reduction in risk was in those who smoked and also had risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis.

The researchers stated that these studies reinforce the idea that lifestyle factors have a significant impact in the development of rheumatoid arthritis, and that quitting smoking is still the most importance step in reducing risk.

These studies were also compatible with previous studies that showed that alcohol consumption helps protect against the development and the severity of rheumatoid arthritis, as well as other inflammatory diseases, such as cardiovascular disease.

This research was published in the June 5th issue of Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

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In one of the most exiting discoveries, researchers at the Hanson Institute in Adelaide and the St. Vincent’s Institute in Melbourne believe they have made great progress on developing a new treatment which will ‘stop’ leukemia and inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.

The discovery relates to the way a protein receptor on the surface of white blood cells controls functioning and production of the cells and how the protein causes malfunctioning white blood cells to be produced. These malfunctioning cells cause inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and leukemia.

The research team has taken nearly a decade to create the first 3D image of the protein receptor. Because they know exactly what the receptor looks like and how it works they are able to start design on new drugs to target the abnormal cells.

“It’s called a receptor because it interacts with a hormone… in this case a hormone called GM-CSF,” said lead researcher Professor Michael Parker.

The GM-CSF hormone binds to the receptor and passes a signal to the cell to reproduce. When the receptor is damaged, the signals result in an over production of white blood cells, or cells that persist too long, which results in inflammatory conditions and leukemia.

The current treatment for leukemia generally includes chemotherapy that destroys the abnormal cells and bone marrow in addition to normal cells. New treatments based on this research will target the abnormal protein and not the normal white cells.

The team has signed an agreement with Australian pharmaceutical company CSL to develop a new treatment to stop the protein from creating abnormal white blood cells.

According to Dr. Parker, “Normally drugs can take 10 to 15 years; with antibodies, it can be quite a deal faster. We’re very lucky because the protein receptor resides on the outside of a cell so the molecules we develop don’t have to get inside the cells; so it makes the drug development easier and quicker.”

Andrew Nash, CSL Director of Research, says that it could take about 2 years to determine if an antibody could be produced that will attach to the receptor. Once that is accomplished they could begin trials on patients.

Their research was published in the science journal Cell.

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The University of Manchester is currently recruiting 90 people for an upcoming study into how placebos work. This group includes 30 with chronic, widespread pain, 30 with osteoarthritis and 30 healthy people as controls. The recruits will be from the musculoskeletal pain clinic at Hope Hospital in Salford and other pain clinics.

Most trials include some form of placebo in order to determine the true results of the tested treatment. Patients receiving a placebo frequently experience improvement in their symptoms due to the “power of suggestion” as opposed to any effect from an actual drug. It is this effect that researchers hope to bring light upon as potential treatments for chronic conditions, such as arthritis.

Neuro Rheumatology Professor Anthony Jones, of the Human Pain Research Group at Hope Hospital, is the research lead for a team that has been looking into the placebo effect for several years. His team has studied the body’s response to pain and how to measure anticipation of pain using EEG.

So far they have found that pain relief as a result of the placebo effect appears to be related to structures in the front of the brain that manage the anticipation of pain.

The planned study will look into the placebo effect on fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis patients to determine if they release natural pain killers, known as “endogenous pain control mechanisms”.

The research team believes that people with chronic widespread pain have abnormalities the way that they anticipate and focus on pain. It is suggested that this results in them feeling greater pain than other people.

“Placebo can affect patients’ response to pain therapy and also influence the results of clinical trials,” said Professor Jones.

“We have shown that responses to experimental placebo alter how the brain responds to pain and, also, that responses to experimental placebo persist in repeated testing in healthy volunteers. This allows us to measure how the brain’s pain control system is being activated under different conditions.

“We hope this study will help us understand how the brain deals with pain, and is also likely to lead to the development of new pain-killing therapies and better ways of testing then.”

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