Pediatric Rheumatology Research IDEA Lab
Synchrotron Imaging of Autoimmune Bone Disease
Towards improved understanding of
Chronic Non-bacterial/Chronic Recurrent Multi-focal Osteomyelitis
Innovation
Chronic Non-bacterial Osteomyelitis (CNO) is an autoinflammatory bone disease affecting children and adolescents. When multiple bone sites are involved, and the condition recurs, it can be referred to as Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis (CRMO). In this submission, the term CNO is used to refer to children with solitary or multifocal lesions. CNO in animals is referred to as chronic multifocal osteomyelitis (CMO).
The research questions inspiring this project are: 1) What are the microstructural characteristics of CNO/CMO, and 2) Are the lesions in CMO animal models comparable to those of CNO in humans? We aim to address these questions by using advanced synchrotron radiation-based micro-computed tomography (SRµCT), which enables generating high resolution 3D images. We will interpret SRµCT imaging in the contexts of clinical and biologically-based disease correlates in bone biopsies from children with CNO and animals with CMO. Synchrotron imaging of bones affected by CNO/CMO have not been reported previously.
Discovery
Preliminary results from this study have shown detailed microarchitectures of bone pathology in both CNO and CMO. Further, the reconstruction of the 3D images are underway. We intend to compare synchrotron-generated images with conventional radiography and micro-CT images.
Engagement
This project received support from the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine Research Award program. This research was possible because of collaboration with synchrotron scientists and international collaborators from the United States, Great Britain, and Germany.
Action
We anticipate that the dramatically detailed images of bone generated by synchrotron technology will create new knowledge about the mechanisms and pathology of CNO/CMO and could serve to guide the monitoring of disease course, predicting outcomes, and selecting treatments.