Heidi Wicks

Links between stroke and arthritis may need further investigation, according to Dr. Noriko Daneshtalab and her team of researchers.

“Patients with autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are known to have a higher risk of high blood pressure and stroke than the normal population,” said Dr. Daneshtalab. “Even more critical is the fact that their survival rate following stroke is dramatically lower – under 10 years typically – with no reasonable treatment options available.”

Stroke (especially hemorrhagic stroke) can cause a loss in brain blood vessel function when the blood pressure pressure is high, resulting in brain bleeds.

“We observed this in animals that spontaneously develop stroke with high blood pressure, and predicted that a similar change occurring in the brain vessels of patients with autoimmune disease (such as RA) could predispose them to fatal stroke,” she explained.

To understand why this is the case, the group has developed a unique hypertensive arthritic animal model by taking an animal that has high blood pressure (but is not affected by stroke) and making them more susceptible to stroke by inducing arthritic swelling and joint damage.”

Dr. Daneshtalab described the animal model will likely mimic what a patient with arthritic damage in the joints would eventually experience if they have high blood pressure and that they will be determining the precise changes that occur in brain blood vessels.

“So far, we’ve discovered that brain vessels from our unique model are defective very similarly to the animals that get spontaneous stroke, losing their ability to control appropriate blood flow to the brain. All the changes are linked to the joint breakdown and can easily lead to a brain bleed.”

Next phase will utilize technology

“We’re now at a critical point in the research,” Dr. Daneshtalab said. “Our hypothesis is that the brain and the specific brain vessels isolated from the animal models will have increased the activation of brain inflammation. Inflammatory signals will therefore decrease the brain vessel’s ability to respond to increase in blood pressure.”

The team will conduct work using molecular and imaging techniques to determine where within the brain there is inflammation, and how it affects the function of brain vessels to cause loss of blood flow control. “The research will hopefully help find a better treatment option for arthritic people who are also suffering from high blood pressure to prevent a more deadly problem, such as stroke, from happening”