New NIH grant intended to advance understanding of arthritis in children

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New NIH grant intended to advance understanding of arthritis in children

http://bixbybulletin.com/news/article_f81f3970-3f9f-11e0-ba79-001cc4c03286.html

Posted: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 4:53 pm

Oklahoma City - A $1.25 million grant from the National Institutes of Health

will enable a University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center research team to

further explore remission in juvenile idiopathic arthritis, formerly known

as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is one of the most common chronic

diseases in children. About 294,000 children under the age of 18 are

affected by pediatric arthritis and rheumatologic conditions, which can by

painful and debilitating.

" We really don't understanding what causes JIA, and because of that, our

treatment is largely empiric, " said researcher and OU Children's Physician

Dr. Jarvis.

" Despite those limitations, we have developed effective therapies over the

past 20 years and our waiting rooms are no longer filled with children in

wheelchairs as they were when I first started training in this field back in

1984. Indeed, we have now set a goal of getting every child with juvenile

arthritis into remission. "

While remission can be defined clinically, scientists still don't fully

understand what triggers remission.

" That's what our new grant is about, " Jarvis said. " We will define what

remission is on the cellular and molecular levels so that we can get

children into remission faster and help them stay there longer. "

Angel Lee's daughter was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic

arthritis in September 2009. Her mobility had become greatly limited and

just getting out of bed each morning was a chore.

The 15-year-old from Broken Arrow is now taking medications and is doing

well enough to play saxophone in her high school marching band. But

Lee will battle the disease her entire life.

" The medicine is fine but now she wants a cure, " said 's mother. " We

hope research like that of Dr. Jarvis someday will make that happen. "

Utilizing blood samples, researchers will use a technique called gene

expression profiling, in which all the genes that are turned on or off in a

given population of cells can be identified and quantitatively compared

between healthy individuals and those with JIA.

By observing what genes are turned on or off in the blood cells as children

transition from active disease to remission, Jarvis said scientists can

build a " road map " for how to get to remission and maybe even how to create

some shortcuts to get there faster.

" This grant is a tribute to the great work being done by Dr. Jarvis and his

team. It will help our researchers make the advances that allow us to

unravel the medical mysteries behind diseases like juvenile idiopathic

arthritis and ultimately to improve treatments and find a cure, " said M.

Dewayne s, M.D., executive dean of the OU College of Medicine.

Jarvis is principal investigator of this project and has engaged colleagues

in Seattle, Dallas, and St. Louis to help recruit patients for a clinical

study. Preliminary studies that led to this grant were supported by OCAST,

the Arthritis Foundation and Children's Hospital Foundation.

" Children's Hospital Foundation supports Dr. Jarvis through an endowment

created by the donations of many Oklahomans, and we know that our children

are blessed to have a physician-researcher like Dr. Jarvis working in this

area because today's research could be the key to tomorrow's life saving

care, " said Kathy McCracken, executive director of Children's Hospital

Foundation.

In addition to his research and seeing patients as a juvenile idiopathic

arthritis specialist with OU Children's Physicians, Jarvis is a professor of

pediatrics and section chief for pediatric rheumatology at the OU College of

Medicine.