No OA Cure, but a Way to Halt Degeneration

Over 40 million people in the US have osteoarthritis, with projected numbers of a potential 70 million by 2030. In the journal Science Translational Medicine, researchers relay a new target to halt the degeneration of cartilage, also alleviating the pain of osteoarthritis. Although there currently are no disease-modifying treatments for OA, it has been noted that those with a deficiency of a specific epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) experienced accelerated knee OA. Prevention of degeneration would help prevent the pain of OA. In the current study, researchers overexpressed a growth factor which lead to cartilage degeneration resistance, "an expanded pool of chondroprogenitors with elevated proliferation ability, survival rate, and lubricant production."

Researcher Ling Qin, PhD, an associate professor of orthopaedic surgery, stated that “we have found that EGFR deficiency or inactivation accelerates osteoarthritis progression in mice. Thus, we proposed that its activation could be used to treat osteoarthritis, and in this study, we’ve proven for the first time that over-activating it inside the knee blocks the progression of osteoarthritis.” EGFR ligands were attached to nanoparticles and injected into mice whose knees already had cartilage damage. Postinjection, the level of cartilage degeneration was "slowed," and knee pain "eased. No major side effects were seen.

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