Targeted Drug Therapies for OA

According to the CDC, OA affects over 32.5 million US adults. Discovery of a new molecular signaling pathway, therefore, could be important. The research, published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, presents “the first evidence of a potential functional role of artemin/GFRα3 in chronic OA-pain in mice. However, there is much to understand about the potential role of artemin, including the mechanisms leading to artemin release and which cells types in the joints are responsible for artemin release; whether artemin is involved in the induction and/or maintenance of OA-pain; and whether artemin acts through only GFRα3, or other receptors…”

“Although the work here is in a mouse model, it was based on robust observations in dogs with naturally occurring OA pain. Because OA in dogs and humans is so similar, we believe our findings are highly relevant to both. Hopefully this work can lead to targeted drug therapies to relieve pain in both canine and human OA patients. While we cannot reverse the joint damage, we can hopefully alleviate suffering caused by pain, decreased mobility and decreased ability to function,” commented coauthor Duncan Lascelles, professor of translational pain research and management at North Carolina State, where the research was done.

 

Read the journal article.

Read the press release.

Other Categories:

• arthritis

• chronic pain

• inflammation

• osteoarthritis

• pain management

• research/study