Investigators: Dr Janine Morris, Mr Adrian Chojnowski, Dr Graham Riley, Professor Ian Clark
Stream: Research Fellowship
Topic: Upper Limbs (Hand)
Status: Live
Dupuytren’s disease (DD) results from thickening of tissues in the hand which shortens, leading to deformity and disability. At present, the only treatment for DD is surgery. Inevitable DD returns over time with further surgery less likely to be successful. MMPs are enzymes which break down tissues in the body. They can be viewed as biological scissors which chop up the components making up these tissues. The body also produces so-called TIMPs, which block the action of MMPs. Normally, there is a balance between MMPs and TIMPs such that tissue remains healthy, but in DD this balance fails. There are many different types of MMPs, and we have recently discovered which ones are present in DD tissue.This project aims to find out exactly how they contribute to the disease and whether we could use drugs to alter what they do in order to slow or halt progression of DD. This would prevent disability and remove the need for surgery. We may also be able to predict in which patients the disease is most likely to come back after surgery by measuring MMP levels in the blood. These patients could then be treated appropriately.
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