Bone
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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major cause of pain and disability in the aging population, but its pathogenesis remains incompletely understood. Alterations beneath the articular cartilage at the osteochondral junction are attracting interest as possible mediators of pain and structural progression in OA. Osteochondral changes occur early during the development of OA and may aggravate pathology elsewhere in the joint. ⋯ Bone turnover, angiogenesis and nerve growth are also features of other diseases such as osteoporosis and cancers, for which therapeutic interventions are already advanced in their development. Here we review pathological changes at the osteochondral junction and explore their potential therapeutic implications for OA. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Osteoarthritis".
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We report here differences in the fatty acid profile of cancellous bone matrix, including n-3, n-6, mono- and poly-unsaturated, as well as saturated fats, between femoral heads from female OA (n=8, aged 68-88years), fractured neck of femur (#NOF) (n=19, 67-88years) and autopsy controls (CTRL) (n=4, 85-97years). Femoral heads were collected from individuals undergoing orthopaedic surgery for OA or #NOF; the fatty acid profile of sub-samples from the superior principal compressive and superior principal tensile regions were determined by gas chromatography. A total of 42 individual fatty acids were detected at varying concentrations with significant differences between subchondral bone from OA subjects, subchondral bone from #NOF subjects and subchondral bone from CTRL subjects, as well as between the superior principal compressive and superior principal tensile regions (for saturated fats only). ⋯ Arachidonic acid (OA=0.42±0.16, #NOF=0.26±0.06, CTRL=0.28±0.06, p=0.01), and γ-linolenic acid (OA=0.11±0.03, #NOF=0.05±0.02, CTRL=0.04±0.02, p<0.001) were higher in subchondral bone from OA subjects than subchondral bone from #NOF subjects and subchondral bone from CTRL subjects. In conclusion, there is a wide diversity of fatty acids in cancellous bone matrix from the femoral heads of OA and #NOF, suggesting they may have regulatory effects on inflammatory processes, and their metabolites. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Osteoarthritis".
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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease and one of the leading causes of disability in the United States and across the world. As a disease of the whole joint, OA exhibits a complicated etiology with risk factors including, but not limited to, ageing, altered joint loading, and injury. Subchondral bone is hypothesized to be involved in OA development. ⋯ These results suggested that the capacity for cross-talk between subchondral bone and articular cartilage could be elevated in OA. Further studies are needed to identify the direction of the cross-talk, the signaling molecules involved, and to test whether subchondral bone initiates OA development and could serve as a pharmaceutical target for OA treatment. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Osteoarthritis".