Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis worldwide. OA causes major disability and pain and places a huge financial burden on healthcare worldwide. In recent work, the gene expression profile of bone marrow lesions (BML) in osteoarthritis has been evaluated. BML in OA have a novel gene expression profile which includes genes involved in inflammation, neurogenesis and matrix turnover. The plan is to investigate the functional significance of the genes found at the protein biomarker level in studies of joint tissue, blood and urine from participants with knee OA and compare these changes with participants who have other forms of arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis.
A study amendment was added in April 2020 due to Covid-19. We are studying up to 150 additional participants with or without inflammatory conditions who are being treated with immunomodulatory drugs compared with participants who are not on immunomodulators. We will be evaluating the course of Covid-19 infection in people without autoimmune inflammatory conditions, compared with people who have autoimmune inflammatory diseases who are on immunomodulators.
