Unlocking the Causes of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

Principal Investigator: David Glass, MD

Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA), which affects approximately 75,000 children in the United States, is the most common form of arthritis found in patients age 16 and under. The exact cause of JRA is not yet known. However, current research suggests that it is an autoimmune disease that is triggered when children with certain genetic traits encounter a virus or other environmental factors.

To gain a better understanding of JRA and other autoimmune disorders, David Glass, MD, of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and colleagues are combining the latest developments from three major research efforts:

• The JRA research registry at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, which maintains DNA samples from more than 800 families known to have a genetic susceptibility to JRA
• Microarray and gene chip technologies applied to JRA, which enable rapid and comprehensive study of arthritis tissue samples
• The Human Genome Project

Using these resources, researchers are working to compile a JRA data set within the next three to five years. This research is expected to produce a molecular classification for JRA and identify the variables that lead to its development. Future results may include a gene chip that will help pediatricians diagnose JRA and determine which of many possible medications will be most effective for a given patient based on his or her genetic makeup.