Investigating the Early Stages of Inflammation in Arthritis

Researchers here examine the biochemistry and behavior of immune cells in the early stages of arthritis, a condition that is strongly associated with age-related increases in chronic inflammation. Inflammation in turn is associated with growing dysfunction of the immune system with age, a progressive failure that occurs for a variety of reasons, including the presence of metabolically active excess visceral fat tissue that is so common this age of cheap calories; a reduced supply of new immune cells due to declining stem cell activity and involution of the thymus; and dominance of the immune cell population by cells devoted to persistent pathogens such as cytomegalovirus, which cannot effectively assist in responding to new threats. Reducing inflammation should be helpful for arthritis patients, and some of the more common forms of stem cell therapy that achieve this outcome so far appear to be more effective than other options for many of those who undergo the treatments. For much the same reasons, senolytic therapies that target senescent cells for destruction will most likely first enter human trials as arthritis treatments, as senescent cells are another prominent cause of inflammation. Using a novel approach for imaging the movement of immune cells in living animals, researchers have identified what appear to be the initial steps leading to joint inflammation in a model of inflammatory arthritis. "Inflammatory arthritis is caused when immune cells are recruited ...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs