CMAR researchers Professor Simon Jones and Dr Susanne Wijesinghe have revealed that being overweight can physically alter the environment within joints, exacerbating inflammation and making arthritis worse. The study, published in Clinical and Translational Medicine, examined cells in the joint lining tissue of patients with osteoarthritis and found that obesity changes the environment within the joint, leaving cells vulnerable to being turned into those that promote inflammation. The study shows that obesity promotes pro-inflammatory conditions, even in non weight-bearing joints such as the hands, and that weight alone does not account for the molecular changes in those joints. The findings could lead to more effective treatments in the future, as drugs can now be specifically developed for patients with metabolic changes driven by obesity. Read the full news item here > https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2023/obesity-turning-arthritic-joint-cells-into-pro-inflammation-bad-apples