In many instances, patients do not fully express the symptoms of one specific form, but have an overlap of symptoms from two or more diseases. Dr. Yi Liu has identified several UCTS patients with mutations in the gene which has been identified as regulating cell death. His study hypothesized that defects in this gene may cause an impaired cell death pathway which may contribute to the origination of the disease. Cartilage is a highly differentiated and specialized cell type that has almost no capacity for healing or replacing itself when seriously injured. The study was done on horses.
Horses provide an excellent model because they suffer similar clinical joint problems as humans.
In addition, horses have large joints, cartilage thickness and underlying bone, all of which closely approximate those of humans. Lupus is an immune disorder that causes the body to make an abnormal amount of antibodies, which protect against viruses and other foreign agents which may harm the body. If Dr. Treadwell s study indicates that specific chemical compounds can induce certain arthritic diseases, we can then avoid or modify these compounds to potentially prevent diseases such as lupus. Dr. Yi s study was focused on enhancing the understanding of how the immune system reacts to bacterial infection. James R. Klinenberg, M.D., head of Rheumatology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and Professor of Medicine and Assistant Dean of the UCLA School of Medicine, passed away in late December, 1999.