New clues to improve treatments for arthritis

PATIENTS with osteoarthritis tend to have one of two types of the disease — and working out which they have will improve treatments, say researchers.

Until now, this form of arthritis was thought of as a single disease, but when University of Manchester scientists examined samples of the synovial fluid that surrounds joints and tissue from 60 patients with knee arthritis, they identified two distinct types.

The differences lie in the nature of the synovial fluid and the way the genes in the diseased tissue behave.

The findings, published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, could provide a basis for developing treatments targeted at those with either type.