IUSM's Multipurpose Arthritis Center received a $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in April, becoming the longest-funded center of its kind in the country. Center director Kenneth Brandt, MD, professor of medicine and head of rheumatology at IU Medical Center, reports that IU's is the only research center to specifically focus on osteoarthritis. Currently its researchers hold NIH grants totaling nearly $15.7 million.
Most recently the center became the lead institution in a clinical study of doxycycline (a form of tetracycline commonly prescribed for the treatment of acne) and its ability to prevent the progression of joint damage caused by osteoarthritis. The study is funded by an $8.3 million NIH grant. Dr. Brandt is principal investigator for the nationwide study, and IUSM is the coordinating center for the six-center project. John Bradley, MD, professor of medicine, is principal investigator for the clinical trial at IUSM.
The study is built on basic and animal research done at IUSM which indicates that doxycycline reduces the levels of several enzymes responsible for the softening and degeneration of cartilage in osteoarthritic joints.
Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, afflicts an estimated 15.8 million Americans. Seventy percent of all people over age 60 have evidence of osteoarthritis. About 30 percent of those individuals suffer joint pain and impaired function. Without some way to control the disease, Dr. Brandt says, those numbers will only rise as Baby Boomers age.