BLood & synovial flUid immunE PRofiles INTra-articular pathologies v1

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Characterising BLood and synovial flUid immunE PRofiles in INTra-articular pathologies – a pilot study

  • IRAS ID

    344771

  • Contact name

    Nicolette Bishop

  • Contact email

    n.c.bishop@lboro.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Loughborough University

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    4 years, 11 months, 30 days

  • Research summary


    Musculoskeletal and rheumatic diseases, such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, often share inflammatory pathways of development, with immune cells moving to inflamed joints to help resolve the damage. However, excessive recruitment of pro-inflammatory cells can lead to harmful effects. Given the vast range of different types of immune cells that differ in their inflammatory functions, it is critical to characterise the cells in order to gain a better understanding of the underlying harmful mechanisms. This research aims to investigate immune cells in the blood and synovial fluid of patients with different joint conditions undergoing joint replacement to:
    1) Differentiate the different immune cell profiles between the diseases and the environment (synovial fluid and blood).
    2) Assess whether a person's physical activity habits might be linked to the types of immune cells found in their blood and synovial fluid.
    3)Investigate, using an ex vivo model of immune cell migration, the ability of both healthy donated immune cells and the patient’s own immune cells to migrate towards the patient’s donated synovial fluid.


  • REC name

    East Midlands - Nottingham 2 Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    24/EM/0208

  • Date of REC Opinion

    30 Sep 2024

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion