Can You Catch Arthritis Like You Catch a Cold?

In 2005, 592 individuals in Ontario experienced food poisoning after consuming food products contaminated with Salmonella. SPARCC investigators found 53 individuals who developed arthritis after this episode of dysenteric outbreak. This provided important new information on the role of infection in the development of arthritis. The investigators then discovered that one particular gene (toll-like receptor 2) was associated with the type of arthritis that was developed. Dr. Robert Inman comments: “There has long been a suspicion about a role of infection as the cause of arthritis. With an outbreak of infection such as this, the opportunity arose to define what the interaction of genetics and infection might be which sets the stage of arthritis. This discovery has major implications for studying arthritis in populations exposed to common infectious diseases. It also suggests that new forms of treatment could be developed which are directed toward the interaction of the bacteria and this gene.