Systematic Screening of Risk Factors for Bone and Joint Diseases

Osteoporosis (OP) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are two main bone&joint diseases that cause disability and death especially in old people. There exist many complex genetic and environmental factors in determining the occurrence of these diseases. However, the specific risk factors for OP and RA is still largely unknown. Here, we propose this 3-year project to find the unknown specific risk factors associated with osteoporosis/RA using a large database from the UK Biobank. The new and advanced methods and strategies have genetic risk score (GRS), Mediation analysis, gene-environment analysis and GRS&environment interaction. This project will improve our understanding on which risk factors related to these diseases. The detected risk factors will rich the pathogenesis picture, and also provide new insights for prevention, clinical treatment, and prognosis of osteoporosis/RA in a more comprehensive manner.