Peng Liu, MD, PhD, of the Thurston Arthritis Research Center received a TraC$10K grant for clinical and translational research projects. Thirteen projects were funded in this round, out of 44 applications received by the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Science Institute. Dr. Liu's project is titled “Targeted Inhibition of Th17 Cells for the Treatment of Autoimmune Disease.”

Media contact: Clinton Colmenares, (919) 966-8757 or ccolmena@unch.unc.edu

Here’s another good reason to lose even a moderate amount of weight: it could reduce your risk of developing osteoarthritis in your knees.

People who are overweight and lost just 5 percent of their weight have a 5 percent lower incidence of osteoarthritis in the knee, or knee OA, than people who either maintained or gained weight, according to data from a large ongoing study by the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

“We hear a lot of messages about how obesity effects cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but arthritis is often left off the list,” says Lauren Abbate, a second-year medical student at UNC and lead investigator of the knee OA paper, presented Monday, Oct. 19, 2009, at the American College of Rheumatology scientific meeting in Philadelphia.

“Just like other chronic diseases, OA is painful, it’s debilitating, we don’t have good treatments and there’s not a cure. But if we can get people to lose weight we can reduce their risk and reduce the pain and disability associated with the disease,” Abbate says.

More than 27 million Americans have OA, the most common joint disease affecting middle-age and older people. OA causes progressive damage to the joint cartilage and changes in the structures around the joint, which can include fluid accumulation, bony overgrowth and loosening and weakness of muscles and tendons, all of which may limit movement and cause pain and swelling.

Abbate and her colleagues used data from the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project, one of the largest ongoing population-based studies of arthritis in the world. It began at Thurston in 1999 and is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The researchers included 1,480 men and women 45 and older who were disease-free in at least one knee and followed them for five to seven years to see who developed radiographic OA – disease confirmed by X-rays; almost two-thirds were women, and more than 25 percent were African Americans. They then divided people into categories based on weight change; people who lost 5 percent or more of their total body weight, people who maintained within 3 percent above or below their weight and those who gained more than 3 percent. They also measured body mass index (BMI) and compared people who were of a healthy weight, overweight and obese.

The most significant difference was among people who were overweight and lost weight. The risk, compared to people who did not lose weight, dropped from 19 percent to 14 percent. There was no significant difference for people who were obese.

“It was our hope that people who maintained weight would have reduced risk, but obesity is such a risk factor for OA that maintaining weight showed no significant benefit,” says, who recently finished her doctoral degree in epidemiology from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She also has a master’s of public health from the school.

Weight loss can be difficult to achieve. But, Abbate says, people can aim for losing a certain percentage of their weight instead of shooting for an ideal number. “For someone who weighs 200 pounds, losing 5 percent just means losing 5 pounds,” she says.

“People with OA can’t get in and out of showers, they can’t play with their grand children,” Abbate says. “If losing 5 pounds lets them do that, it’s worth it.”

Abbate’s paper was one of several research highlights at the ACR meeting for UNC’s Thurston Arthritis Research Center.

“We have placed a priority on working more with medical students and being open to collaborating,” says Joanne Jordan, M.D., the center director and Herman and Louise Smith Distinguished Professor of Medicine at UNC’s School of Medicine. Jordan will receive the ACR’s Excellence in Investigative Mentoring Award.

Thurston is home to huge data sets from ongoing longitudinal studies, including the Johnston County Arthritis Project, that attracts top researchers, and faculty are looking at novel areas, including tai chi and the effects of selenium on arthritis. The center recently opened a new infusion clinic for rheumatology patients and joined a statewide family practice network to extend its reach and amplify its expertise.

Thurston Arthritis Research Center faculty will present in 25 sessions at ACR. “This is testament to the fact that UNC is a great place to train,” Jordan says. “In the end, we’re helping propel the field of arthritis research, which helps patients everywhere.

Others who received ACR awards are:

Joshua Knight, a first-year medical student at UNC, won the Research Education Foundation’s Abbott Medical Student Research Preceptorship. This award will provide support for summer work under Leigh Callahan at the Thurston Arthritis Research Center to study how social determinants act as predictors of arthritis disability as part of the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project.

Amanda Nelson, M.D., won the Distinguished Fellow Award, given to clinical and research fellows in rheumatology in recognition of their meritorious performance throughout their training

Shelby Addison, a third-year medical student at UNC, won the REF/Abbott Medical/Graduate Student Achievement Award in recognition of significant work in the field of rheumatology.

The Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine garnered numerous research and teaching awards at the recent meeting of the American College of Rheumatology annual scientific conference held Oct. 15-17 in Philadelphia.

Thurston is home to huge data sets from ongoing longitudinal studies, including the Johnston County Arthritis Project, that attract top researchers, and faculty are looking at novel areas, including tai chi and the effects of selenium on arthritis.

To address clinical needs, and facilitate the translation of research to patient care, the center recently opened a new infusion clinic for rheumatology patients and joined a statewide family practice network to extend its reach and amplify its expertise.

"We take our role as the arthritis research center for the people of North Carolina very seriously," says Joanne Jordan, M.D., the center director and Herman and Louise Smith Distinguished Professor of Medicine at UNC's School of Medicine. Jordan received the ACR's Award of Distinction for Excellence in Investigative Mentoring. "That is why we are always looking for ways to bring our research findings to the community and to learn from the community. Additionally, we have placed a high priority on working with medical and graduate students and being open to collaborating,"

Thurston Arthritis Research Center faculty presented their work in 25 sessions at ACR. "This is testament to the fact that UNC is a great place to train," Jordan says. "In the end, we're helping propel the field of arthritis research, which helps patients everywhere."

Others who received ACR awards are:

Lauren Abbate, a third-year medical student at UNC, and Joshua Knight, a second-year UNC medical student, won the Research Education Foundation's Abbott Medical Student Research Preceptorship. This award provided support for summer work under Leigh Callahan at the Thurston Arthritis Research Center to study how social determinants act as predictors of arthritis disability as part of the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project.

Shelby Addison, a third-year medical student at UNC, won the REF/Abbott Medical/Graduate Student Achievement Award in recognition of significant work in the field of rheumatology. Her poster on the selenium and joint metabolism biomarkers, using data from the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project, was selected to be highlighted on the Osteoarthritis Poster Tour.

Amanda Nelson, M.D., won the Distinguished Fellow Award, given to clinical and research fellows in rheumatology in recognition of their meritorious performance throughout their training.

Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School