“THE LEEDS IDEA”: AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE SPONDARTHRITIS CONCEPT

SUMMARY In the 1960s, Professor Verna Wright became increasingly interested in possible relationships between certain seronegative “variants of rheumatoid arthritis”, as they were then generally known. At the Rheumatism Research Unit, a department within the division of medicine at Leeds University,...

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Main Author: J.M.H. Moll
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PAGEPress Publications 2011-09-01
Series:Reumatismo
Online Access:http://www.reumatismo.org/index.php/reuma/article/view/300
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author J.M.H. Moll
author_facet J.M.H. Moll
author_sort J.M.H. Moll
collection DOAJ
description SUMMARY In the 1960s, Professor Verna Wright became increasingly interested in possible relationships between certain seronegative “variants of rheumatoid arthritis”, as they were then generally known. At the Rheumatism Research Unit, a department within the division of medicine at Leeds University, he gathered around him a succession of research workers, whom he inspired to study aspects of these relationships. The focus was on family studies, as it was thought that genetic factors could be important. The striking association previously noted between sacroiliitis or full-blown ankylosing spondylitis and several of these disorders to be studied - e.g., psoriatic arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and the arthritis associated with Crohn’s disease - was to be central for each of these studies. As a provisional collective name for these possibly related conditions, the term “Spondarthritides” was chosen. These were the days before HLA B27, and so the research tools were simply clinical, radiological (for sacroiliitis) and serological (for rheumatoid factor). The research programme confirmed not only links between the primary disorders with ankylosing spondylitis, but also links between the disorders themselves. Over subsequent years, the spondarthritis concept (dubbed by some “The Leeds Idea”) has gained further strength from HLA studies internationally. And membership of the group of conditions fulfilling spondarthritis criteria has grown substantially. It is hoped that this now consolidated framework of spondylitis-related entities will pave the way for further research, with exciting prospects of gene-based prevention and/or cure through the increasing sophistication of molecular biology. Key words: Seronegative spondarthritides, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spndylitis
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spelling doaj.art-2b1f9e79878b4e888fa940f177e57ba02022-12-22T02:07:38ZengPAGEPress PublicationsReumatismo0048-74492240-26832011-09-01591s131810.4081/reumatismo.2007.1s.13“THE LEEDS IDEA”: AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE SPONDARTHRITIS CONCEPTJ.M.H. MollSUMMARY In the 1960s, Professor Verna Wright became increasingly interested in possible relationships between certain seronegative “variants of rheumatoid arthritis”, as they were then generally known. At the Rheumatism Research Unit, a department within the division of medicine at Leeds University, he gathered around him a succession of research workers, whom he inspired to study aspects of these relationships. The focus was on family studies, as it was thought that genetic factors could be important. The striking association previously noted between sacroiliitis or full-blown ankylosing spondylitis and several of these disorders to be studied - e.g., psoriatic arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and the arthritis associated with Crohn’s disease - was to be central for each of these studies. As a provisional collective name for these possibly related conditions, the term “Spondarthritides” was chosen. These were the days before HLA B27, and so the research tools were simply clinical, radiological (for sacroiliitis) and serological (for rheumatoid factor). The research programme confirmed not only links between the primary disorders with ankylosing spondylitis, but also links between the disorders themselves. Over subsequent years, the spondarthritis concept (dubbed by some “The Leeds Idea”) has gained further strength from HLA studies internationally. And membership of the group of conditions fulfilling spondarthritis criteria has grown substantially. It is hoped that this now consolidated framework of spondylitis-related entities will pave the way for further research, with exciting prospects of gene-based prevention and/or cure through the increasing sophistication of molecular biology. Key words: Seronegative spondarthritides, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spndylitishttp://www.reumatismo.org/index.php/reuma/article/view/300
spellingShingle J.M.H. Moll
“THE LEEDS IDEA”: AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE SPONDARTHRITIS CONCEPT
Reumatismo
title “THE LEEDS IDEA”: AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE SPONDARTHRITIS CONCEPT
title_full “THE LEEDS IDEA”: AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE SPONDARTHRITIS CONCEPT
title_fullStr “THE LEEDS IDEA”: AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE SPONDARTHRITIS CONCEPT
title_full_unstemmed “THE LEEDS IDEA”: AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE SPONDARTHRITIS CONCEPT
title_short “THE LEEDS IDEA”: AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE SPONDARTHRITIS CONCEPT
title_sort the leeds idea an historical account of the spondarthritis concept
url http://www.reumatismo.org/index.php/reuma/article/view/300
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