UT-Houston Researchers to Lead Multi-Center NIH Study on Rare Disease of the Spine

Researchers at The University of Texas-Houston Medical School division of rheumatology have been awarded $4.5 million to lead a multi-center study to uncover the genetics of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) by the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

The multi-million dollar grant will establish the North American Spondylitis Consortium (NASC) to aid in the collection of data to identify genes involved in AS.

The NIH has asked Dr. John Reveille, professor in the division of rheumatology at UT-Houston Medical School, to organize the NASC to facilitate the collection of families which will be used to study the genetic basis of AS and to determine its cause.

Though the cause of AS is not known, all spondylarthropathies share a common genetic marker called HLA-B27. Furthermore, HLA-B27 is linked to AS, but it is not the sole contributor to the disease. The goal of the NASC is to search for the other genes that play a role in AS. Ultimately, researchers hope to find new methods to detect and treat AS, which is not curable.

"HLA-B27 is associated with a group of genes that are understood to affect the immune system," says Dr. Reveille, principle investigator of the multi-center study. "Identifying those genes associated with HLA-B27 will help us understand this painful inflammatory disease. Our first goal is to recruit families in which two siblings have been diagnosed with AS. The Spondylitis Association of America will register these families and maintain the working database for the NASC."

Participating centers will send blood samples to UT-Houston where researchers will begin their quest for a genetic understanding of AS.

Ankylosing spondylitis is a hereditary spinal condition in which vertebrae weaken and fuse together causing stiffening of the spine. This painful inflammatory disease is also known as arthritis of the spine.

AS afflicts an estimated 129 out of 100,000 people in the United States. It typically strikes adolescents and young adult males. Its prevalence varies by ethnic group, however, it is most common in Native Americans.

---

©2006 Texas Medical Center

---

E-Mail: tmc-info@tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/11_01_99/page_12.html