Professor Christopher Denton

PHD FRCP

Consultant Rheumatologist

Christopher Denton is Professor of Experimental Rheumatology at UCL and Consultant Rheumatologist and Head of the Centre for Rheumatology, Royal Free Hospital in London. He leads a large clinical programme in scleroderma at the Royal Free Hospital and co-ordinates multidisciplinary care for more than 1400 patients. The scleroderma centre has played a prominent role in many recent clinical studies in scleroderma, Raynaud’s phenomenon and connective tissue disease associated pulmonary hypertension. In addition there is a vigorous translational and basic science research programme that focuses on pathogenic mechanisms and novel disease models.

Hospital Locations

Royal Free Hospital

Year qualified

1986

Country of qualification

Languages spoken

English

Specialities

Rheumatology

Memberships

Member of the Association of Physicians
Member of British Society for Rheumatology
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London)
International Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology

Registration and licensing

GMC:3134128

Clinical interests

Raynaud’s phenomenon and related connective tissue disease
Scleroderma
Systemic sclerosis

Research interests

Clinical and translational research into scleroderma
Fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension
Active clinical trials programme

Published papers

Selected recent publications:

Quillinan NP, McIntosh D, Vernes J, Haq S, Denton CP. Treatment of diffuse systemic sclerosis with hyperimmune caprine serum (AIMSPRO): a phase II double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Ann Rheum Dis. 2014 Jan 1;73(1):56-61.
Derrett-Smith EC, Dooley A, Gilbane AJ, Trinder SL, Khan K, Baliga R, Holmes AM, Hobbs AJ, Abraham D, Denton CP. Endothelial Injury in a Transforming Growth Factor β-Dependent Mouse Model of Scleroderma Induces Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Arthritis Rheum. 2013 Nov;65(11):2928-39.
Penn H, Quillinan N, Khan K, Chakravarty K, Ong VH, Burns A, Denton CP. Targeting the endothelin axis in scleroderma renal crisis: rationale and feasibility. QJM. 2013 Sep;106(9):839-48.
Coghlan JG*, Denton CP*, Grünig E*, Bonderman D, Distler O, Khanna D, Müller-Ladner U, Pope JE, Vonk MC, Doelberg M, Chadha-Boreham H, Heinzl H, Rosenberg DM, McLaughlin VV, Seibold JR; on behalf of the DETECT study group. Evidence-based detection of pulmonary arterial hypertension in systemic sclerosis: the DETECT study. Ann Rheum Dis. 2013 May 18. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 23687283. *equal contribution
Denton CP, Krieg T, Guillevin L, Schwierin B, Rosenberg D, Silkey M, Zultak M, Matucci-Cerinic M; DUO Registry investigators. Demographic, clinical and antibody characteristics of patients with digital ulcers in systemic sclerosis: data from the DUO Registry. Ann Rheum Dis. 2012 May;71(5):718-21.
Herrick AL, van den Hoogen F, Gabrielli A, Tamimi N, Reid C, O’Connell D, VÃ¡zquez-Abad MD, Denton CP. Modified-release sildenafil reduces Raynaud’s phenomenon attack frequency in limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis. Arthritis Rheum. 2011 Mar;63(3):775-82.
Hoyles RK, Derrett-Smith EC, Khan K, Shiwen X, Howat SL, Wells AU, Abraham DJ, Denton CP. An essential role for resident fibroblasts in experimental lung fibrosis is defined by lineage-specific deletion of high-affinity type II transforming growth factor beta receptor. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2011 Jan 15;183(2):249-61.
Nihtyanova SI, Tang EC, Coghlan JG, Wells AU, Black CM, Denton CP. Improved survival in systemic sclerosis is associated with better ascertainment of internal organ disease: a retrospective cohort study. QJM. 2010 Feb;103(2):109-15.
Denton CP, Engelhart M, Tvede N, Wilson H, Khan K, Shiwen X, Carreira PE, Diaz Gonzalez F, Black CM, van den Hoogen FH. An open-label pilot study of infliximab therapy in diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2009 Sep;68(9):1433-9
Cai CL, Martin JC, Sun Y, Cui L, Wang L, Ouyang K, Yang L, Bu L, Liang X, Zhang X, Stallcup WB, Denton CP, McCulloch A, Chen J, Evans SM. A myocardial lineage derives from Tbx18 epicardial cells. Nature. 2008 Jul 3;454(7200):104-8.
Fonseca C, Lindahl GE, Ponticos M, Sestini P, Renzoni EA, Holmes AM, Spagnolo P, Pantelidis P, Leoni P, McHugh N, Stock CJ, Shi-Wen X, Denton CP, Black CM, Welsh KI, du Bois RM, Abraham DJ. A polymorphism in the CTGF promoter region associated with systemic sclerosis. N Engl J Med. 2007;357:1210-20.