Blood Thinner Could Prevent Osteoarthritis
Researchers writing in the current issue of Arthritis and Rheumatology report that a blood thinner may have potential as a preventive treatment for osteoarthritis.
Researchers writing in the current issue of Arthritis and Rheumatology report that a blood thinner may have potential as a preventive treatment for osteoarthritis.
Ticagrelor (Brilinta, AstraZeneca) is a P2Y12 platelet inhibitor currently used to prevent stroke and heart attack in patients with acute coronary syndrome or a history of myocardial infarction. It works by increasing the presence of extracellular adenosine which, in turn, regulates the inflammatory processes. Studies in animal models have shown that it is effective in treating osteoarthritis.
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“These findings suggest that extracellular adenosine may play an important role in reducing cartilage inflammation and damage, and that it might serve as a therapeutic target for preventing and treating osteoarthritis in humans,” wrote researchers who were led by Matthew C. Baker, M.D., of Stanford University. “We believe that even this relatively short treatment period may provide protection against developing osteoarthritis over the subsequent years. It is not clear how long this effect may last, as the follow-up period for this study ended at five years, with a relatively small number of patients at risk after three years.”
Osteoarthritis affects about 27 million adults in the United States. It was once thought of merely as degeneration of the joints, but today is more often recognized as “a disease driven by low-grade inflammation and complex interactions between genes and the environment,” Dr. Baker and colleagues wrote. “There are no effective treatments to prevent the onset or progression of osteoarthritis, and novel therapies are needed.”
REFERENCE
Matthew C. Baker, Yingjie Weng, Robinson H. William, Neera Ahuja, Nidhi Rohatgi. “
