Aarhus researcher receives grant for research into improved treatment of rheumatoid arthritis
Clinical bioinformatician Louise Bruun Thingholm from the Department of Clinical Medicine and the Department of Molecular Medicine (MOMA) has been awarded DKK 3,599,136 by the Independent Research Fund Denmark through the Inge Lehmann Programme. The programme supports talented early-career researchers in establishing their own research projects.
Louise Bruun Thingholm investigates how specific enzymes produced by gut bacteria influence the body’s response to methotrexate – one of the most widely used medications for rheumatoid arthritis. Some patients experience good and rapid symptom relief, while others have to change treatment because methotrexate is insufficiently effective or causes side effects. The reasons for these differences are not yet fully understood.
In the project, Louise Bruun Thingholm will map how bacterial enzymes can break down or alter methotrexate before the medication has the opportunity to work optimally. This knowledge may help clarify why its effect varies so greatly from one patient to another.
In the longer term, the results may contribute to the development of new forms of microbiome-based precision medicine that can more specifically modulate the gut bacterial composition or, alternatively, inhibit particular enzymes in order to improve patients’ treatment response.
“Today we know far too little about why the same medication works so differently from patient to patient. This grant gives us the opportunity to link knowledge about gut bacteria directly to the individual patient’s response to methotrexate. If we succeed, it could ultimately mean fewer unsuccessful treatments and faster relief for people with rheumatoid arthritis,” says Louise Bruun Thingholm.
Contact
Clinical bioinformatician Louise Bruun Thingholm
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine, and
Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Molecular Medicine (MOMA)
Email: louisethingholm@clin.au.dk