HIPPROCATES aims to improve the diagnosis and treatment options available to patients with psoriatic arthritis and involves 26 partners from across Europe. FAU has a leading role in the project. Researchers will investigate the complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors as well as the dysregulation of inflammatory processes. Investigating the weighting of these factors should enable diagnoses to be made earlier and increase the accuracy of predictions about the progression of the disease. The findings of the project will be used to improve targeted therapy for psoriatic arthritis. The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI 2), which is a joint project of the European Union and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) will provide funding for HIPPOCRATES for a period of 5 years.
Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic inflammatory condition of the joints where the body's own immune cells attack joints and tendons in addition to the skin. It is estimated that around 5 million people across Europe suffer from the symptoms of the condition, which typically include painful and swollen joints as well as painful tendons (tennis elbow) or inflammation of the Achilles tendon, which are painful and stiff above all when the patient makes particular movements. The condition is mostly, but not always, accompanied by scaly rashes on the skin (psoriasis). The ongoing inflammation associated with psoriatic arthritis can trigger several other concomitant diseases such as cardiovascular disorders. The extent and the effects of psoriatic arthritis on quality of life varies greatly from person to person.
Early detection and personalised treatment
Currently no reliable procedures or tests exist that can provide information quickly, simply and reliably about how psoriatic arthritis develops and how the disease will later progress. This often results in long periods of suffering for patients, delayed treatments and therefore poorer treatment outcomes. The Department of Medicine 3 - Rheumatology and Immunology at FAU is participating in the HIPPOCRATES consortium to improve predictions of which patients will develop psoriatic arthritis or a serious case of the condition. 'We have the means to jointly develop innovative imaging and measurement methods that could be used to track the progression of psoriatic arthritis,' explains PD Dr. David Simon at the Department of Medicine 3 - Rheumatology and Immunology. 'This will make it possible to identify psoriatic arthritis at an early stage and to either reduce the impact of the disease or ideally prevent it entirely with a personalised treatment strategy.'
The HIPPOCRATES project connects European research centres and companies from various sectors with the aim of jointly incorporating scientific findings into clinical applications. This will involve researching newly-discovered markers and methods in international cohorts of patients that can be used in to diagnose psoriatic arthritis at an early stage. Researchers in the HIPPOCRATES project will also develop personalised treatment strategies to improve patients' responses to their treatment and prevent them from developing a serious case of psoriatic arthritis.
