Orthopedists are in a quandary when a patient complains
about pain in the knees but the X-rays don't reveal any
anomalies. Should they operate? “Imagine when a horse
presents the same symptoms,” says Sheila Laverty,
professor in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Université de
Montréal. “Arthritis is a very common affliction
in horses, but veterinarians can neither prevent it nor
even arrive at an early diagnosis.”
Things could change soon thanks to this researcher’s
work. She studies biomarkers of cartilaginous metabolism
present in the blood. “When the articular cartilage
covering the bones begins to disintegrate, tiny quantities
of biomarkers are found in the synovial liquid, the natural
lubricant that allows the ends of the bones to pivot on
one another without seizing up. We attempt to find traces
of this progressive degradation before the first radiographic
signs appear. Ideally, a simple test of the blood or synovial
liquid would be sufficient.” For a number of years,
Dr Laverty has been working with Dr Robin Poole, of the
articular disease laboratory at the Shriners Hospital for
Children in Montréal, who is internationally renowned
for his research on articular cartilage in humans and,
in particular, the study of biomarkers. Dr Laverty’s
work is very promising for the human species, which faces
increasingly severe joint problems as the population ages.
The author of three articles that have appeared since 2000
in the Journal of Orthopedic Research, Dr Laverty is a
member of the Canadian Arthritis Network, a center of excellence
that brings together 127 engineers, rheumatologists, orthopaedic
surgeons, radiologists, etc. “Horses and humans have
a lot of points in common in our field,” she says. “We
are taking on two challenges simultaneously: early diagnosis
of anomalies and medication.”
The researcher does work in vivo and in vitro. For example,
she collects samples of cartilage from dead animals in
order grow them in the laboratory (the cells are able to
grow for a few hours after death). These tissues are vital
for testing new molecules. In Québec, a large number
of racehorses suffer from osteoarthrosis in varying degrees.
In most cases the symptoms can be effectively treated by
intra-articular treatments or arthroscopic surgery, but
the pain forces veterinarians to resort to euthanasia in
some cases that are too advanced. While the symptoms can
be treated, we have no drugs that are capable of preventing
or stopping the process of cartilage degeneration. Currently,
the physiopathology of osteoarthrosis is not widely studied
in veterinary medicine, so the Saint-Hyacinthe researcher
is something of a pioneer. But Sheila Laverty is also a
surgeon and instructor. “It is important to be active
in basic research, but I also like to have a clinical activity.
And it all helps improve my teaching.”
Researcher: Sheila Laverty
Telephone: (514) 343-6111, poste 8267
Email: sheila.laverty@umontreal.ca
Funding: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
of Canada, Aventis
