Inflammatory and Metabolic Mechanisms in Osteoarthritis Study

 Although biomechanical mechanisms (overload on bearing joints) have been implicated to attribute to the association of obesity with knee osteoarthritis, there is now a growing body of evidence that inflammatory and metabolic mechanisms may play important roles in the pathogenesis of knee osteoarthritis.

This longitudinal study, based on established studies, is to determine the associations between serum levels of adipokines (e.g, leptin) and cytokines (e.g., IL-6, TNF- α) and knee structural changes in older adults or OA patients over 2 years. We have reported that serum levels of leptin were associated with reduced knee cartilage volume and hip joint space narrowing, and serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α are associated with knee cartilage loss in older people. Currently we are looking at the associations between leptin and loss of cartilage thickness in older adults, and the associations between adipokines/cytokines and knee structural changes in patients with osteoarthritis.

This study has been supported by ARC Future Fellowship.

Research Groups

Related Diseases

Staff

Senior Members

  • Professor Changhai Ding (Principle Research Fellow)

Team Members

  • Professor Graeme Jones (Professorial Research Fellow)
  • Associate Professor Yuelong Cao (Visiting Research Fellow)
  • Benny Eathakkattu Antony (PhD Student)
  • Dr Weiyu (Martin) Han (Visiting Research Fellow)
  • Xia Wang (PhD Student)

External Collaborators

  • Professor Flavia Cicuttini, Monash University