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Top 10 Research Advances of 2024

Research advances are transforming how arthritis is diagnosed, treated and prevented.

Thanks to the generosity and vision of our donors and supporters, Arthritis Society Canada is the leading charity in funding life-changing arthritis research across the country. With this crucial support, our brightest minds are answering the most pressing research questions spanning the many types of arthritis. Whether working in the lab, the clinic or alongside people living with this devastating disease, researchers are turning your support into discoveries to relentlessly fight the fire of arthritis. Here are some of the many advances made possible in 2024.

The varied impact of diet on joint health

Nada Abughazaleh and Walter HerzogNada Abughazaleh (PhD candidate) and Dr. Walter Herzog, University of Calgary

The finding: An animal study investigating the impact of a high fat/sugar diet on body weight and joint health found that it had different effects on shoulder joints than seen previously in knee joints. Fiber supplementation was also able to protect male rats from obesity, but not in females. This suggests that metabolic osteoarthritis, a type of arthritis linked to obesity, does not affect all joints in the same way.

The future: The differing impact of diet on joint health emphasizes that other factors such as joint biology, sex hormones, gut bacteria, structural differences, immune response, and biomechanics could play significant roles in the onset or progression of metabolic osteoarthritis. This points to promising new directions for more personalized treatment approaches.

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Preventing heart disease in people with psoriatic arthritis

​Dr. Keith Colaço and Dr. Lihi EderDr. Keith Colaço and Dr. Lihi Eder, Women’s College Hospital and University of Toronto

The finding: A new tool was created to predict heart disease risk for people with psoriatic disease (PsD), a condition that includes psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis. Researchers found that traditional heart disease risk factors – like high blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and smoking – effectively predicted heart problems in patients with PsD, even without including any PsD-specific factors.

The future: As people with PsD and other rheumatic diseases face a higher risk of heart disease, this research confirms that current heart disease risk assessment tools can effectively guide care for PsD patients – but they need to be used. Adopting this approach would encourage more frequent screenings and improve heart disease prevention for people with PsD.

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Improved access to rheumatoid arthritis care

Mark HarrisonDr. Mark Harrison, University of British Columbia and Arthritis Research Canada

The finding: British Columbia incentivizes rheumatologists to practice using a multidisciplinary care model that integrates nurses into the clinic. For rheumatoid arthritis patients, this model shortened the time from their referral to when they were first prescribed a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) and improved their access to ongoing care.

The future: Since early diagnosis and treatment leads to better arthritis outcomes, this innovation to enhance access to rheumatology care will help to improve lives for many patients. However, further improvements are still needed to ensure equitable access to this promising model of care and expansion to more clinics.

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The knee’s fat pad – a complex player in osteoarthritis

Mohit KapoorDr. Mohit Kapoor, Schroeder Arthritis Institute, University Health Network

The finding: The full role of the infrapatellar fat pad (IFP) – the largest fat pad in the knee joint – is not well understood. Researchers studied IFP samples from people in unprecedented detail to map out how different cell types are distributed and how they might communicate with each other. They discovered molecular patterns in IFP cells related to knee osteoarthritis, including distinguishing features among female and male patient samples and those from patients who were obese.

The future: This vast, detailed knowledge can be used to pinpoint new targets for the future development of osteoarthritis treatments and how they might be tailored to individual patients for personalized medicine.

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Joint damage after a sprained ankle

Sarah ManskeDr. Sarah Manske, University of Calgary

The finding: Sport-related ankle sprains are common in teens and young adults and are known to increase the risk of future osteoarthritis. New research using medical imaging of soft tissues and ankle bones in youth with a history of ankle sprains showed that osteoarthritis-like joint changes can start as soon as three to 15 years after the injuries — meaning individuals in their thirties could experience such changes following injuries sustained in their twenties.

The future: Understanding how soon osteoarthritis can begin in young people following an ankle injury highlights the urgency of prioritizing rehabilitation and prevention efforts and the need for further research on how to intervene to avoid the pain of future arthritis.

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How seeing green light can reduce joint pain

Jason McDougallDr. Jason McDougall, Dalhousie University

The finding: By studying the effects of green light therapy on joint pain in animal models, researchers found for the first time that visual exposure to low-level green light can reduce osteoarthritis pain. This therapy works by increasing certain natural pain-relieving molecules in the blood, which activate the body’s endocannabinoid system to help manage pain and stress.

The future: Current arthritis pain medications are not always effective and can raise safety concerns. Exploring alternative treatments like green light therapy could open promising new avenues for pain relief, illuminating an exciting new direction for managing osteoarthritis pain.

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Using AI to speed up osteoarthritis diagnosis and monitoring

Callie Stirling, Nathan Neeteson and Steven BoydLead author, Callie Stirling, and Arthritis Society Canada-supported authors, Dr. Nathan Neeteson and Dr. Steven Boyd, University of Calgary

The finding: Traumatic bone marrow lesions (BMLs) are frequently observed in knee MRI scans after a tear and may act as a precursor for post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Researchers developed an AI-powered tool to automate the detection and segmentation of BMLs in MRI scans, greatly reducing the time and effort required in manual assessments by clinicians and researchers.

The future: This approach holds promise for clinical application, offering a reliable, quantitative tool to detect and study bone-related pathology. This approach could allow for faster diagnosis and monitoring of knee injuries and the possible progression of osteoarthritis, making it a potentially useful asset in both diagnostics and early intervention.

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Purple Butterfly: A tool to support lupus patients

Marc PouliotDr. Marc Pouliot, Université Laval

The finding: Lupus is a complex autoimmune disease that can affect the whole body, including the joints. To help rheumatologists communicate clinical lupus information with patients and promote self-management, researchers developed a novel tool called the Purple Butterfly to visually represent the health of the patient at each clinic visit and over time. Ninety percent of patients surveyed thought it should be used in routine practice.

The future: Using the Purple Butterfly may improve conversations between doctors and patients, encourage shared decision-making, and support effective self-management to help people with lupus live well.

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Joint replacement surgeries in newcomers

Bheeshma RaviDr. Bheeshma Ravi, Sunnybrook Research Institute

The finding: In Ontario, the proportion of knee replacement surgeries performed for newcomer patients (immigrants and refugees) doubled over 10 years. Researchers found that newcomer patients had better surgical outcomes than Canadian-born patients, but that these surgeries might be underused in this population.

The future: This study reinforces that knee replacements are safe surgeries for newcomers in Canada, but that more research is needed to understand whether barriers in access to care or cultural perceptions of arthritis and pain lead to underutilization of joint replacement surgeries in this community. This will make progress on the path to equitable arthritis care for all people in Canada.

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Fatigue – a core concern in childhood arthritis

Anna GagliardiNaomi Choong (trainee) and Dr. Jaime Guzman, University of British Columbia, and the nationwide Canadian Alliance of Pediatric Rheumatology Investigators (CAPRI)

The finding: Studying hundreds of children with early juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) enrolled in a national registry revealed important links between fatigue, pain interference with activities, and physical disability, and found that fatigue is severe for 15% of children with JIA.

The future: This study validates that fatigue is a key burden for children with early JIA, which may worsen physical disability. It suggests that efforts to prevent disability should include strategies to cope with both fatigue and pain’s interference with daily living.

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