An existing osteoporosis drug has been found effective for inhibiting cartilage loss from osteoarthritis post joint injury besides being effective in regeneration of a part of lost cartilage that happened because of osteoarthritis.
The finding was presented on September 12, 2009 at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research in Denver.
From Sciencedaily.com:
Cartilage can become damaged by many kinds of injury and by mechanical stresses that come with age. Over time, damaged cartilage deteriorates to cause osteoarthritis (OA), with its attendant joint inflammation and pain. Currently available drugs like steroids or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (e.g. Advil, Aleve) reduce pain but do not address the loss of cartilage behind the osteoarthritis, which is projected to afflict more than 50 million Americans by 2020.
Cartilage forms the sponge-like, shock-absorbing layers that keep the impact of running and jumping and lifting from grinding bones against each other in joints. The cell type at the heart of osteoarthritis is the chondrocyte, the cartilage-producing cell responsible for maintaining the integrity of joint cartilage.
It was remarked by Randy Rosier, M.D., Ph.D., professor within the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at the University of Rochester Medical Center, that physicians are currently left with no option for restoring cartilage in their patients who have lost it because of osteoarthritis. The results of this study suggested that cartilage degeneration can be prevented and the volume of cartilage in diseased joints be improved, at least in mice.
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