OMRF awarded $2 million to help with one-of-a-kind arthritis injection study

Katelyn Ogle/KFOR
·2 min read

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Roughly half of those over the age of 60 will develop osteoarthritis. Oklahoma medical researchers are hoping to help break the cycle by reversing the affects of osteoarthritis in a completely different way.

Osteoarthritis, or OA, is the most common cause of disability in the US.

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“A lot of people get it and we don’t understand why,” said Dr. Matlock Jeffries, with the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.

That’s what Dr. Jeffries and his team of researchers at the OMRF are trying to figure out.

“OA is by far the most common form of arthritis,” said Jeffries. “People just assumed it was wear and tear. It really is an inflammatory disease.”

There is no cure for OA. Currently, the only way to combat it is by over-the-counter medicine, prescriptions, or surgery. The OMRF said 1.5 million US adults get the surgery every year, costing the US healthcare system almost $50-billion a year.

Now, there’s a focus on treating knees with OA.

ARPA-H, part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, was established in 202 to support high-risk, high-reward biomedical research. It’s first target is OA.

“They’re going to throw a ton of money at something to try to actually get something done in a short period of time,” said Jeffries.

Washington University in St. Louis is leading the charge, with funding of up to $31 million over.

Jeffries said the goal is to finish the project in five years, with human testing starting in 2.5 years.

“In the world of research, it’s actually pretty short-term,” said Jeffries.

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The OMRF is receiving $2 million, to help with human testing. They were chosen because of it’s long history of clinical research with Native Americans.

“It appears the highest risk of people to develop OA are African American and Native American women,” said Jeffries. “That’s the population we’re planning to pull our clinical trial in a few years from.”

The OMRF is not recruiting test subjects just yet, however they are looking for patients for their OA Clinic. When the trials begin, the doctor will look for patients with OA of the knee, including some existing patients.

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