Facilitating earlier diagnosis and more precise treatment for patients with inflammatory diseases. This is the goal as the X-HiDE research project at Örebro University in Sweden now enters its next phase, in collaboration with eleven companies and four other universities in Europe and the USA.

The X-HiDE research programme focuses on inflammation, a common factor in many common diseases, including cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. As the Knowledge Foundation-supported X-HiDE programme enters its second phase, the focus shifts from mapping inflammatory mechanisms broadly to describing and comparing different patterns of inflammation between diseases.

By studying model diseases such as sepsis, the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), cardiovascular disease, and particle-induced lung disease, researchers aim to identify the unique patterns of inflammation associated with each disease and those familiar to multiple diseases.

“The goal is to map the cellular and molecular patterns of inflammation in different diseases and stages of disease, to better understand the links between biological mechanisms and clinical outcomes. This knowledge is crucial for identifying biomarkers and devising more precise treatment strategies,” says Robert Kruse, head of division at the Clinical Research Laboratory, Region Örebro County, and head of research for X-HiDE.

Strong results from the first phase of X-HiDE

During the first four years of X-HiDE, an interdisciplinary network was established with researchers from academia and industry, all of whom share the common goal of increasing knowledge about inflammation as a cause of disease. Two researchers were awarded PhDs, seven were promoted to associate professor and five to senior lecturer.

The proportion of research grants awarded is substantial, and the number of publications in top-ranked journals and citations is above average for both Swedish higher education institutions and Örebro University as a whole.

“X-HiDE has also been a driving force in the collaboration between medicine and the AI focus area, which has resulted in one of ARC's central application areas, life science and health, and that AI is now being implemented as part of the medical programme,” says Eva Särndahl, professor of biomedicine at Örebro University and project manager for X-HiDE.

Focus on patient benefit

In phase two, collaboration with international academic and industrial partners, including the University of Antwerp, Johns Hopkins University, AstraZeneca and Sprint Biosciences, will be strengthened. A key milestone will be establishing a shared patient cohort for the model diseases: sepsis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and cardiovascular disease. This will include patients from cohorts that have already been established – groups of patients that researchers follow.

By analysing patient samples from the X-HiDE cohort with new technology that can measure thousands of proteins simultaneously and linking these data to clinical data using machine learning, researchers hope to create an atlas of molecular signatures.

“Ultimately, we hope that this knowledge will form the basis for developing simpler and more reliable tools to help detect inflammatory diseases more easily, reduce the burden on patients, and improve treatment outcomes,” says Karin Lundberg, associate professor of immunology and scientific coordinator of X-HiDE.

More information:
X-HiDE – research on inflammation and our common diseases

X-HiDE (Exploring Inflammation in Health and Disease) is a strategic initiative launched in 2020. It has received funding from the Knowledge Foundation, Örebro University, and five life science companies. Read more here.

X-HiDE researchers study the various mechanisms of inflammation. The goal is to find new treatments for our common diseases. Inflammation is an underlying cause of common diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Inflammation also plays a role in mental health and obesity.

In the second phase of X-HiDE, five universities are collaborating: Örebro University (Sweden), Johns Hopkins University (USA), University of Houston (USA), Infla-Med, CoE University of Antwerp (Belgium), and AIR – The Atlas of Information Resolution, University of Rostock, Germany.

Eleven companies are involved in the project: AstraZeneca R&D Gothenburg (Sweden), Datatera AB (Sweden), Genos d.o.o. (Croatia), Glycostem Therapeutics B.V. (Netherlands), MatTek IVLSL (Slovakia), Qiagen Aarhus A/S (Denmark), Somalogic Operating Co, Inc. (USA), Sprint Bioscience AB (Sweden), VITROCELL Systems GmbH (Germany), Wolfram MathCore AB (Sweden) and Z2 Invest AB (Sweden).