Bio scavenging a promising therapeutic approach to address cartilage associated diseases

Abstract

newline Abstract newlineAccording to the Global Burden Diseases (GBD) report of 2022, ~500 million people suffer newlinefrom degenerative and inflammatory musculoskeletal joint disorders alone. The newlinemusculoskeletal joint disorders are the primary cause of life-time disability in many cases. newlineIn such individuals, inflammation and severe pain is manifested in the joints like knees, newlinehands, feet, hips and spine. The degeneration of cartilage and the underlying bone leads to newlinechronic inflammatory diseases of joints such as osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatic arthritis newline(RA). newlineArticular cartilage (AC) is a specialized type of connective tissue that covers the ends of newlinebones in joints, providing a smooth, lubricated surface that allows for frictionless newlinemovement of the joint. AC possesses limited ability for natural healing and regeneration newlinedue to its lack of blood vessels. Consequently, safeguarding and maintaining the health of newlineAC is crucial for the overall well-being of the joints. Protecting AC from further damage is newlinea significant challenge for patients, surgeons and physical therapists. Joint injuries or its newlineoveruse can accelerate the breakdown of cartilage leading to OA, a degenerative newlineinflammatory joint disease. OA is characterized by an increase in pro-inflammatory newlinemarkers such as Nitric oxide (NO), IL-1and#946; and TNF-and#945;. Typically, in acute inflammatory newlineconditions, a series of cellular and molecular events work together to minimize the damage newlineor infection. However, when acute inflammation is not properly controlled, it can transit newlineinto a chronic state, which manifests as chronic inflammatory diseases. This chronic newlineinflammation can damage the joints contributing to OA progression. Elevated levels of newlineinflammatory markers lead to an increase in matrix metalloproteases (MMPs), which in newlineturn causes cartilage degeneration. This degeneration subsequently leads to subchondral newlinebone (SB) damage and subsequently to joint instability. newlineThe existing pharmaceutical approaches to treat OA includes drugs that mitigate pain and newlineinflammation