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Summary of dissertation

Understanding and Treating Joint Inflammation: How Horses Can Help Advance Human and Animal Medicine

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a painful disease affecting millions of people and animals worldwide. Despite its impact, effective treatments remain limited. This research focuses on developing better tools to study joint inflammation - an important driver of OA - using horses as a model. Horses suffer from joint disease much like humans do, making them a highly relevant species for studying treatments that could benefit both humans and horses. This thesis refines a model where a small amount of a bacterial substance (LPS) is injected into a horse’s joint to create temporary inflammation. This allows researchers to test how new treatments work without causing lasting harm to the experimental animals.

The research explores repeated joint inflammation, pain detection through behaviour, and the testing of treatments, including corticosteroids, biologics such as stem cell and blood-derived products, and a new nanocomplex. Importantly, the model was refined to reduce pain, improve consistency, and enhance animal welfare in comparison to traditional LPS models.

The findings show that this horse model can help identify promising treatments early in the development process, before human or large-scale veterinary trials. By improving how joint inflammation is studied, this research supports the creation of better, more effective therapies for OA - helping humans and animals live more comfortable, mobile lives.

If a candidate gives a layman's talk, the live stream will start 15 minutes earlier.