Rheumatoid Arthritis in South Asians/RASA
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Why does rheumatoid arthritis occur at an earlier age in South Asians?
IRAS ID
281891
Contact name
A Sharma-Oates
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 1 days
Research summary
Age related diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases occur as a consequence of the decline in the diversity of immune cell populations that are critical in generating a protective immune response. Recent DNA methylation (DNA methylation regulates the expression of genes throughout life and in response to environmental factors such as stress, pollution etc.) studies have identified a set of sites across the genome that are highly correlated with chronological age. The levels of methylation measured at these sites can be used to determine a patients’ biological age.
Critically, there is evidence that the biological age is accelerated (the biological age determined is higher than chronological age) in patients with RA. Clinical observations have noted that RA is diagnosed at a younger age and has worse outcomes in patients of South Asian origin, suggesting that ethnicity could be an important factor. To date, differences in biological age acceleration between ethnicities has not been explored. Understanding the biological mechanisms involved in biological ageing of RA patients and whether it differs with ethnicity may facilitate new therapeutic intervention strategies.
Our overarching hypothesis is that ethnic specific differences in biological age acceleration of RA patients explains the earlier onset of RA seen in patients of South Asian origin. We will determine biological age acceleration from the DNA extracted from blood sample at diagnosis of patients with RA of South Asian origin. However, we need to first establish baseline changes in biological age of healthy individuals in relation to ethnicity.REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/EM/0171
Date of REC Opinion
10 Jul 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion