New class of disease-modifying drugs promising for patients with hand osteoarthritis

UK: Talarozole, a retinoic acid metabolism blocking agent (RAMBA), has an acceptable safety profile in human subjects; a small proof of concept clinical study is in the process to see whether this drug represents a new disease-modifying treatment in patients with hand osteoarthritis, a recent study stated. 

Hand osteoarthritis is a common and debilitating medical condition that affects mainly women, especially around menopause. Currently, no disease-modifying treatments effectively relieve symptoms or stop deformity and stiffness of the joints.

The researchers investigated a common gene variant linked to severe hand OA. Using patient samples collected at the time of routine hand surgery and several experimental models, they could identify a key molecule that was especially low in 'at risk' individuals, called retinoic acid.

Professor Tonia Vincent, Professor of Musculoskeletal Biology & Honorary Rheumatologist at Oxford's Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS), said: 'This project was only possible because of our multi-disciplinary approach; working with our hand surgical colleagues, geneticists, data scientists and biologists.'

Dr Neha Issar-Brown, Director of Research and Health Intelligence at the charity Versus Arthritis, which funded the research, said: 'Around 8.5 million people in the UK live with OA. Despite often being dismissed as just a few aches and pains, OA can have a profound and far-reaching impact on life, affecting people's ability to work, care for a family, or live independently.

'There is an urgent need for disease-modifying treatments designed to prevent or reverse the painful symptoms of OA. This study reveals a new understanding of the causes of hand osteoarthritis, which could lead to identifying new biological targets for intervention in hand OA.

'This research is still at an early stage, but with these encouraging findings we are a big step closer in being able to develop a new class of disease-modifying drugs to treat osteoarthritis, prevent chronic pain, and enable people to live well with the condition,' Dr Issar-Brown concludes.

Reference:

View ORCID ProfileLinyi Zhu, Pragash Kamalathevan, Lada Koneva, Jadwiga Miotla Zarebska, Anastasios Chanalaris, Heba Ismail, Akira Wiberg, Michael Ng, Hayat Muhammed, Fiona E. Watt, The Oxford Hand Surgical Team, Stephen Sansom, View ORCID ProfileDominic Furniss, Matthew D. Gardiner, Tonia L. Vincent doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.10.457848