Teriparatide, a drug currently used to treat the brittle bone condition osteoporosis, could also help stave off the effects of arthritis, according to a new study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Arthritis occurs when the cartilage between the bones begins to degrade. Pain and inflammation are caused in the joints by bone rubbing against bone, and current treatments can only lessen the pain, not heal the actual problem.
Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Centre in New York studied the effects of the drug when given to lab mice with arthritic knees. The mice who were treated daily with teriparatide had cartilage that was 32 percent thicker than the mice who did not receive the drug.
Depending on how long ago the injury had occurred, the drug could prevent degeneration of the cartilage and, in some cases, even cause it to regrow.
The researchers caution however that "animal models of osteoarthritis are not like humans with osteoarthritis, and many agents that have worked and looked very promising in animals have not worked in human trials."
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