Investigators: Anthony Bosco, Caroline Motteram, Christine Everest, Glenn Pearson, Jonathan Carapetis, Michael Serralha, Mitali Manzur, Patrick Holt, Rebecca Trowman, Tim Barnett, Tobi Kollmann
External collaborators:
- Edith Cowan University: David Broadhurst
- Menzies School of Health Research: Anna Ralph, Mark Mayo, Bart Currie, Heather D'Antoine, Bo Remenyi, Gabriela Minigo, Laura Francis, Josh Francis, Yolanda Hernandez Gomez
- SHHQ: Salvatore Albani, Lakshmi Ramakrishna
- University of Auckland: Nikki Moreland
- Otago University: Michael Baker
- University of Adelaide: Rachel Webb
Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is an autoimmune disease triggered by streptococcal infection. Currently there are no diagnostic tests for ARF, and no treatments targeting immune responses to improve disease outcomes. A test for ARF, and targeted treatments that reduce development of its complication, Rheumatic Heart Disease, would be highly valuable for Australian Indigenous peoples, Maori and Pacific Islanders and other affected populations.
Understanding ARF immunology has been elusive since the immune processes causing ARF are complex, and the technology to find a unique ‘diagnostic signature’ has not been previously available. In this study we will use new methods to comprehensively test immune responses in blood samples from people with ARF (diagnosed using the Jones Criteria) and healthy volunteers at Royal Darwin and from Auckland Hospital, New Zealand, to find any unique signature that reliably identifies ARF. This will provide the basis for a possible diagnostic test, and knowledge on what types of immune-modulating treatments should be trialled in ARF.
APP1147531 NHMRC