International collaborative research on Charcot's disease

The suggested involvement of proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF) α and interleukin 1β, together with the RANKL-NFκB signalling pathway, also provided a potential explanation for the association of acute Charcot's disease with bone lysis and calcification of the media of arterial walls (Mönckeberg's sclerosis), because both of these processes are now also thought to be mediated, directly or indirectly, by the expression of these same peptides. The UK's National Institute of Health Research's Health Technology Assessment programme has confirmed its policy of considering applications for such collaborative funding, and is keen to support suitable applications in the field (either for UK-based sections of multinational trials, or for international studies which are UK-led).