Osteoarthritis, a crippling condition that impairs movement and causes pain in the knees, hips, and hands’ joints, is one of the main causes of disability in the globe.
Millions of individuals worldwide suffer from hand osteoarthritis, which affects women far more frequently than males.
According to recent studies, mechanoinflammation is the main cause of hand osteoarthritis, and retinoic acid plays a crucial role in its progression.
Researchers discovered that talarozole increases retinoic acid levels in the joint, decreasing mechanoinflammation and perhaps altering the course of the illness.
The knees, hips, and hands are the joints most often affected by osteoarthritis (OA), a degenerative condition. Over 32.5 million individuals in the United States with a Trusted Source suffer from this chronic illness.
The smooth, slick, cushioned surface covering the ends of the bones—cartilage—breaks down and becomes thin and rough, which is the cause of OA, which is not fully understood.
As the body attempts to mend the tissue, loss and damage to the cartilage prevent the bones in the joint from freely moving, resulting in discomfort and swelling. Pain, edoema, stiffness, and decreased flexibility are symptoms of osteoarthritis (OA), which can be made worse by the healing process, which results in further alterations to the underlying bone.
According to a news release from Versus Arthritis, which financed the study, “[…] although frequently being disregarded as only a few aches and pains, OA may have a deep and far-reaching impact on life, limiting people’s ability to work, care for a family, or live independently.”
OA has no known treatment, and the signs and symptoms might get worse with time. In order to keep patients mobile and active, the disease’s treatments concentrate on managing pain and swelling.
Treatment consists of:
maintaining a fit and active lifestyle
taking painkillers
physical treatments to make the muscles around the joints stronger
Retinol and osteoarthritis
A biological mechanism linked to the condition has been discovered in new study conducted by Dr. Tonia Vincent, professor of musculoskeletal biology and director of the Center for Osteoarthritis Pathogenesis at the University of Oxford. Additionally, studies have revealed that the medication talarozole can target this route, potentially altering how OA develops.
Science Translational Medicine is the publication where the study is published.
Talarozole, a retinoic acid metabolism-blocking (RAMBA) medication, has been studied in the past as a potential therapy for skin conditions because of its capacity to slow down the breakdown of retinoic acid.
Retinoic acid, a vitamin A metabolite, is well established to have a role in immunological response and cellular communicationTrusted Source. Recent genetic research has revealed that alterations in the ALDH1A2 gene, which is involved in the synthesis of retinoic acid, increase the likelihood of developing severe hand OA.
The current study, according to Dr. Vincent, “showed that the variation in the gene meant that these people had extremely low amounts of retinoic acid to start with,” he told Medical News Today (and presumably drop even lower when the joint is injured). This was linked to increased tissue inflammation.
severe osteoarthritis and a genetic variation
To investigate the biological implications of the association between the gene variation and severe OA, a multidisciplinary research team that included hand surgeons, geneticists, data scientists, and biologists was assembled. The researchers combined 33 samples of articular cartilage acquired from patients with hand OA following standard surgery with information from the UK Biobank project.
The scientists determined that mechanoinflammation is one of the main causes of OA in the individuals they evaluated after tissue RNA sequencing revealed a connection between the ALDH1A2 gene and genes involved in inflammation.
“We demonstrated that these people had very low baseline levels of retinoic acid due to the gene variation” (and presumably drop even lower when the joint is injured). This was linked to increased tissue inflammation.
The group discovered a connection between cartilage damage and a decreased expression of ALDH1A2.
Dr. Vincent pointed out that the clinical trial’s enrollment process will start in January 2023, with findings anticipated in 2024.
