Looking for Biomarkers in Human Joint Fluid
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An investigation of human body fluids for the identification of biomarkers relating to joint disease
IRAS ID
167807
Contact name
Matthew Jaggard
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 1 months, 6 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
An investigation of bodyfluids in patients suffering with joint problems. Bodyfluids will be analysed for bodily biproducts which are potentially elevated in these scenarios. Novels methods of analysing these body fluids will be employed, hopefully yielding new results.
Computer analysis will then attempt to correlate the findings of the analysis with joint conditions. Any targets will be highlighted for further study
Summary of Results
This project was a pilot study investigating which small molecules are contained in joint fluid and which may be important in joint disease, infection and joint lubrication.
Joint fluid has been rarely analysed using this technique. Therefore, the first step was to ensure that our methods were safe and robust. Furthermore, we wanted to ensure that the results would be reliable and valid. We wanted to ensure that we were not introducing any contaminants and that we could be confident of the results.
We were able to demonstrate that the handling and analysis of the joint did not unduly affect the results, and where the results were affected by storage we understood what those affects were and could consider this when interpreting the results. We also demonstrated that our methods were appropriate to successfully analyse the human joint fluid.
We compared the joint fluid originating from hips and knees. We found significant differences in the metabolism of the fluid that came from osteoarthritis in hips and knees. We detailed these differences and presumed these were due to mechanical differences between the joints, one being a ball and socket joint and the other a hinge. This means the mechanical stresses on the fluids are different, perhaps effecting the fluid directly.
We reported the changes in metabolism that take place when joint fluid harbours an infection. The presence of infection is destructive to any joint. Therefore, being able to detect it early can give better outcomes for patients. We reported a host of metabolites that are affected when infection occurs, with the potential of using this information to analyse joint fluid for infection in the future.
We looked at the lubrication properties of joint fluid. We looked for components of the fluid that seem to be related to good lubrication. Our hope is that by knowing which components are important, this information could be used to give better survival to joints in the future.REC name
London - Chelsea Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/0388
Date of REC Opinion
12 May 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion