In a recent study published in The Lancet EBioMedicine , a team of scientists used Mendelian Randomization analyses to explore whether antidiabetic medications could potentially be used as disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs or DMOADs for the therapeutic management of osteoarthritis. Study: Exploring antidiabetic drug targets as potential disease-modifying agents in osteoarthritis . Image Credit: Peter Porrini/Shutterstock.
com Background Osteoarthritis is a disease that affects the joints. It is characterized by the progressive degradation of the cartilage in the joints, inflammation, and subchondral bone remodeling. Various biochemical processes and biomechanical forces contribute to the etiology of this prevalent form of arthritis.
Despite the pain and morbidity of osteoarthritis, which contribute substantially to limiting normal function and disability, there are no effective DMOADs to retard or reverse the progression of joint degeneration. However, recent research has shown that metabolic dysregulation could be a major contributor to the progression of the disease, indicating an interplay between osteoarthritis and metabolic syndromes. Evidence from local and systemic-level interactions shows that hyperglycemia could influence osteoarthritis, and the accumulation of the end products of glycation and oxidative stress is also believed to contribute to cartilage damage.
These findings have highlighted the potential use of antidiabetic medications to influence or modify t.