Omics-based analysis of molecular pathogenesis of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and development of novel therapeutic intervention

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H04873
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Pediatrics
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Yachie Akihiro 金沢大学, 医学系, 教授 (40210281)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 東馬 智子 金沢大学, 附属病院, 助教 (00377392) ; 清水 正樹 金沢大学, 附属病院, 講師 (10401902) ; 和田 泰三 金沢大学, 附属病院, 講師 (30313646)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: sJIA / MAS / biomarker / IL-18

Outline of Final Research Achievements

sJIA is a chronic inflammatory illness characterized by fever and join pain. Although its etiology remains unknown, extremely elevated serum level of IL-18 is a cardinal feature of the disease. When the inflammatory condition is not properly controlled, there often exists s risk of inducing macrophage activation syndrome, or MAS, which occasionally leads to fatal outcome. It is therefore very important to establish efficient system to diagnose sJIA early and predict the onset of MAS timely to start immediate therapeutic intervention. In this study, several biomarkers were found to be useful for this purpose and risk factors of MAS induction was also revealed. The whole study contributed a lot to the diagnosis and treatment of sJIA/MAS.

Free Research Field

小児科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

小児における難治性炎症性疾患である、全身型若年性特発性関節炎の病態について、様々な有用な血清バイオマーカーを見出すことにより明らかにした。また、重篤な合併症であるマクロファージ活性化症候群発症のリスク因子を明らかにし、その予測や早期発見のためのバイオマーカーも提示した。これらの成果は、本疾患を病態から理解し、適切な診断・治療のための指標と提示することとなった。