17 research outputs found

    Design of an anti-inflammatory diet (ITIS diet) for patients with rheumatoid arthritis

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    Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that affects synovial joints, leading to inflammation, joint destruction, loss of function, and disability. Although recent pharmaceutical advances have improved treatment of RA, patients with RA often inquire about dietary interventions to improve RA symptoms, as they perceive rapid changes in their symptoms after consumption of certain foods. There is evidence that some ingredients have pro- or anti-inflammatory effects. In addition, recent literature has shown a link between diet and microbiome changes. Both diet and the gut microbiome are linked to circulating metabolites that may modulate inflammation. However, evidence of the effects of an anti-inflammatory and probiotic-rich diet in patients with RA is scarce. There is also a need for biological data to support its anti-inflammatory effects. The main goal of this study is to delineate the design process for a diet tailored to our RA population. To achieve this goal, we collected information on diet, supplements, cooking methods, and intake of different ingredients for each patient. Different groups were interviewed, and their feedback was assessed to design a diet that incorporates suggested anti-inflammatory ingredients in a manner that was easy for patients to adopt based on their lifestyles and backgrounds. We designed a diet that includes a high intake of potential anti-inflammatory ingredients. Feedback from highly motivated patients was critical in constructing an anti-inflammatory diet (ITIS diet) with elevated adherence. In order to tailor our diet, we surveyed our patients on several different parameters. We obtained important feedback on how feasible our ITIS diet is for RA patients. Using this feedback, we made minor improvements and finalized the design of the ITIS diet. This diet is being used in an on-going pilot study to determine their anti-inflammatory effect in pain and joint swelling in RA patients. Not applicable

    Serum metabolomic profiling predicts synovial gene expression in rheumatoid arthritis

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    Abstract Background Metabolomics is an emerging field of biomedical research that may offer a better understanding of the mechanisms of underlying conditions including inflammatory arthritis. Perturbations caused by inflamed synovial tissue can lead to correlated changes in concentrations of certain metabolites in the synovium and thereby function as potential biomarkers in blood. Here, we explore the hypothesis of whether characterization of patients’ metabolomic profiles in blood, utilizing 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), predicts synovial marker profiling in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods Nineteen active, seropositive patients with RA, on concomitant methotrexate, were studied. One of the involved joints was a knee or a wrist appropriate for arthroscopy. A Bruker Avance 700 MHz spectrometer was used to acquire NMR spectra of serum samples. Gene expression in synovial tissue obtained by arthroscopy was analyzed by real-time PCR. Data processing and statistical analysis were performed in Python and SPSS. Results Analysis of the relationships between each synovial marker-metabolite pair using linear regression and controlling for age and gender revealed significant clustering within the data. We observed an association of serine/glycine/phenylalanine metabolism and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis with lymphoid cell gene signature. Alanine/aspartate/glutamate metabolism and choline-derived metabolites correlated with TNF-α synovial expression. Circulating ketone bodies were associated with gene expression of synovial metalloproteinases. Discriminant analysis identified serum metabolites that classified patients according to their synovial marker levels. Conclusion The relationship between serum metabolite profiles and synovial biomarker profiling suggests that NMR may be a promising tool for predicting specific pathogenic pathways in the inflamed synovium of patients with RA
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