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Musculoskeletal Research Xavier Nogués

The Musculoskeletal Research Group (GIME) is formed by biologists and doctors, integrated into the CIBER of Frailty and Healthy Ageing (CIBERFES). Likewise, the group is accredited by the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR).

The GIME is a research unit with a long and consolidated trajectory in the field of bone and mineral metabolism. Its origins date back to 1990, with the development of the primary culture of human osteoblasts in our country. Since then GIME has followed a path of innovation and research in the field of bone metabolism, which is reflected in more than 300 publications and a number of competitive research projects and clinical trials.  Its vocation is translational research and since its inception it has always stood out for carrying out studies from basic to clinical and vice versa.

Currently, the priority lines of research are:

1. Genetic, clinical and epidemiological studies to improve the quality of life of women with breast cancer treated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs).

It is a prospective and interventional study of a clinical cohort of women with breast cancer candidates for treatment with AI, called B-ABLE (Barcelona-Aromatase induced Bone Loss in Early breast cancer) (NCT03811509 Clin Trial Gov).

This cohort has been established in the Functional Breast Pathology Unit of the Oncology Department of the Hospital del Mar and in the GIME.

In a complementary manner, data of women with breast cancer registered in the database SIDIAP (Information System for the Development of Research in Primary Care) are being analyzed. The SIDIAP provides data on registered clinical and prescription events, demographic information, and results of medical tests on patients attended by primary care centers in Catalonia (~7 million patients) since 2006. The use of this database makes it possible to analyse infrequent events or those that occur in the long term.

The objective of these studies is to evaluate the short and long term side effects derived from the use of AI in women with breast cancer in order to improve their quality of life as well as the impact of this adjuvant treatment on morbidity and mortality.

2. Genetic studies related to osteoporotic phenotype in collaboration with the Department of Genetics, University of Barcelona, CIBERER (Prof. D Grinberg and S Balcells):

• Studies for the identification of therapeutic targets for osteoporosis through the analysis of microRNAs.
• Collaborative projects within the GEFOS/GENOMOS Consortium that gathers data from more than 100,000 participants from various cohorts, including the BARCOS cohort from GIME.
• Physiopathological and genetic study of atypical fractures of the femur related to antirresortive treatments.

3. Epidemiological study of osteoporotic fractures.

It consists of a multicenter project called REFRA-FLS SEIOMM (REgistro Español de FRActuras-FLS SEIOMM), promoted and coordinated by the GIME, with the participation of several Spanish hospitals.

4. Clinical studies.

Clinical studies related to therapeutic interventions in osteoporosis including participation in the project on therapeutic objective in Osteoporosis "Treat to Target" with the DELPHI methodology.

5. Studies of the impact of various chronic diseases and their associated treatments on bone health and mineral metabolism.

These studies include the impact of HIV infection, chronic kidney disease, bariatric surgery, inflammatory bowel disease and rare diseases such as Gaucher disease type 1 on bone health and metabolism.

It is carried out in collaboration with the Services of Infectious Diseases, Nephrology, Digestive Diseases, Endocrinology, Surgery of the Digestive System, and Traumatology, from the Hospital del Mar and the Department of Genetics of the University of Barcelona, CIBERER.

The unit is a pioneer in the research on qualitative properties of bone by microindentation, which has been developed along with researchers from the University of Santa Barbara (California, USA).

6. Clinical studies on frailty.

Various studies have been carried out on the impact of osteoporosis and fractures on fragile patients and their impact on the evolution of frailty syndrome. Recently, a collaborative study has been initiated within CIBERFES in order to constitute a Spanish cohort that allows for the establishment of trajectories of the patient fragile-prefragile and robust and allows for prospective and translational studies of its evolution.