The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 News
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Ankylosing Spondylitis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
      • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / EULAR 2014: Osteoarthritis and Obesity Link

EULAR 2014: Osteoarthritis and Obesity Link

September 1, 2014 • By Thomas R. Collins

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

You Might Also Like
  • Mechanistic, Epidemiologic Clues Suggest Possible Link Between Obesity, Inflammation in Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • EULAR 2013: Researchers Make Inroads in Treatment of Osteoarthritis
  • EULAR 2014: Research on Rheumatoid Arthritis, Spondyloarthritis
Explore This Issue
September 2014
Also By This Author
  • EULAR 2013: Researchers Expand Targets for PsA, OA Therapy
Lipids and fats viewed under a microscope.

PARIS, FRANCE—Researchers are trying to drill down for a better understanding of the link between osteoarthritis and obesity—considered one of the most significant and probably one of the most preventable risk factors for the condition.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Dr. Ioan-Facsinay

Andreea Ioan-Facsinay, PhD, assistant professor of rheumatology at Leiden University Medical Center in The Netherlands, discussed their work on the topic in a scientific session on the role of lipids in inflammation at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR 2014) in June.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

D. Branch Moody, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy at Harvard Medical School, followed with a discussion of new insights into the function of T cells.

The Role of Obesity in Osteoarthritis

“How the association [of obesity] with osteoarthritis is mediated is not really known yet,” Dr. Ioan-Facsinay said. “However, what is interesting is that [obesity] is not only associated with osteoarthritis in the knee and in the hip and in the weight-bearing joints, but also with osteoarthritis of the hands.”

That implies that obesity is not just a problem of physical strain.

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

“The mechanisms that are involved in this association are not purely biomechanical, but probably have something to do with the systemic effects of obesity,” she said.

That might not be surprising considering that adipose tissue is a resource of soluble mediators—adipokines, cytokines, chemokines and lipids—and that these mediators can “assert a variety of functions,” Dr. Ioan-Facsinay said. The adipokine leptin, for example, has the important metabolic function of regulating appetite, but is also a potent immunomodulatory agent.

These mediators become different in the setting of obesity, Dr. Ioan-Facsinay said.

To untangle the role of obesity in osteoarthritis, investigators have focused on the knee, because it’s a part of the body where cartilage, bone and synovium are all close to fat tissue.

CD4-positive T cells, they found, produce increased levels of IFN-gamma when they’re activated in the presence of adipocyte-conditioned medium (ACM).

This effect, moreover, is seen mainly in the lipid fraction—much more than in the protein fraction—of ACM. Plus, they’ve found the effect is confined to fractions containing free fatty acids.

[Obesity] is not only associated with osteoarthritis in the knee & in the hip & in the weight-bearing joints, but also with osteoarthritis of the hands.

Researchers also found that fat cells can modulate cytokines by activated macrophages and that the effect seems to be antiinflammatory, which was somewhat surprising. This modulation fluctuated according to BMI: the higher the BMI, the more intense the effect.

Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page

Filed Under: Conditions, Meeting Reports, Osteoarthritis Tagged With: antiinflammatory, Collins, EULAR, inflammation, International, Lipid, Obesity, Osteoarthritis, Research, Rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatology, Rheumatology Research Foundation, T cellIssue: September 2014

You Might Also Like:
  • Mechanistic, Epidemiologic Clues Suggest Possible Link Between Obesity, Inflammation in Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • EULAR 2013: Researchers Make Inroads in Treatment of Osteoarthritis
  • EULAR 2014: Research on Rheumatoid Arthritis, Spondyloarthritis
  • EULAR 2014: Cardiac Involvement in Rheumatic Diseases

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2021 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
This site uses cookies: Find out more.