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Rheumatologie und Immunologie
ResearchRheumatology and ImmunologyInternal MedicineUniversity departmentsMedical University of Graz

Research team Spondyloarthritis

Our department has been managing a large cohort of patients with spondyloarthritis, particularly axial spondyloarthritis and psoriatic arthritis, for many years. Our clinical research currently focusses on diagnostic delay, imaging, enthesitides in diagnosis and monitoring, and the therapeutic effect of probiotics in spondyloarthritis.  Our basic research project investigates why neutralising antibodies to interleukin-23 are not effective in patients with axial spondyloarthritis.

Contact

Josef Hermann  
T: +43 316 385 17779
E: josef.hermann(at)medunigraz.at
Research profile

Labor

Our goals

Our clinical research aims are

  1. to identify factors that lead to a delay in diagnosis of about 6 – 8 years;
  2. to describe specific inflammatory and structural changes and their localisation in the anterior thoracic wall in patients with axial spondyloarthritis,
  3. to investigate the predictive value of musculoskeletal ultrasound with regard to radiographic progression in psoriatic arthritis,
  4. to systematically review the literature on the role of enthesitis in diagnosis and monitoring, and
  5. to test the efficacy of probiotic therapy in psoriatic arthritis.

Our basic research objective is to investigate the distribution of interleukin 23 and its receptor in the immune cells of inflamed sacroiliac joints.

Labor

Our projects

  • Elucidating non-medical factors that influence the diagnostic delay in patients with axial spondyloarthritis
  • Describing inflammatory and structural changes of the ventral chest wall specific for patients with axial spondyloarthritis
  • Elucidate molecular mechanism responsible for the inefficiency of interleukin-23 inhibitors in patients with axial spondyloarthritis
  • Musculoskeletal ultrasound as prognostic marker for radiographic progression in psoriatic arthritis
  • Value of enthesitis assessment at different sites for diagnosis and disease monitoring in rheumatic diseases: a systematic literature review (PROSPERO 2024 CRD42024534037)
  • The Effect of Probiotic Modulation of Enteral Dysbiosis on disease Activity in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis (The MEDIPSA trial, NCT04588623)

Team

Members