Institute of Biomedical Research and Technology, Center for Research and Technology, Thessaly (CE.RE.TE.TH), 51 Papanastasiou Street, 41222 Larissa, Greece.
Prog Lipid Res. 2011 Apr;50(2):133-40. doi: 10.1016/j.plipres.2010.11.001. Epub 2010 Nov 27.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is an age-related degenerative disease comprising the main reason of handicap in the Western world. Interestingly, to date, there are neither available biomarkers for early diagnosis of the disease nor any effective therapy other than symptomatic treatment and joint replacement surgery. OA has long been associated with obesity, mainly due to mechanical overload exerted on the joints. Recent studies however, point to the direction that OA is a metabolic disease, as it also involves non-weight bearing joints. In fact, altered lipid metabolism may be the underlying cause. First, adipokines have been shown to be key regulators of OA pathogenesis. Second, epidemiological studies have shown serum cholesterol to be a risk factor for OA development. Third, lipid deposition in the joint is observed at the early stages of OA before the occurrence of histological changes. Fourth, proteomic analyses have shown an important connection between OA and lipid metabolism. Finally, recent gene expression studies reveal a deregulation of cholesterol influx and efflux and in the expression of lipid metabolism-related genes. Interestingly, lipids and lipid metabolism are known to be implicated in the development and progression of another age-related degenerative disease, atherosclerosis (ATH). Thus, although it is tempting to speculate that the osteoarthritic chondrocyte has been transformed to foam cell, it has not been proven yet. However, this may be an intriguing theory linking ATH and OA, which may open new avenues to novel therapeutic interventions for OA taking advantage of previous knowledge from ATH.
骨关节炎（OA）是一种与年龄相关的退行性疾病，是西方世界导致残疾的主要原因。有趣的是，迄今为止，除了对症治疗和关节置换手术外，尚无可用于早期诊断该疾病的生物标志物，也没有有效的治疗方法。OA 长期以来一直与肥胖有关，主要是由于关节承受的机械过载。然而，最近的研究表明，OA 是一种代谢性疾病，因为它也涉及非承重关节。事实上，改变的脂质代谢可能是根本原因。首先，脂肪因子已被证明是 OA 发病机制的关键调节剂。其次，流行病学研究表明，血清胆固醇是 OA 发展的危险因素。第三，在发生组织学变化之前，OA 的早期阶段即可观察到关节内的脂质沉积。第四，蛋白质组学分析表明 OA 与脂质代谢之间存在重要联系。最后，最近的基因表达研究揭示了胆固醇内流和外流以及脂质代谢相关基因表达的失调。有趣的是，脂质和脂质代谢与另一种与年龄相关的退行性疾病动脉粥样硬化（ATH）的发生和发展有关。因此，尽管推测 OA 软骨细胞已转化为泡沫细胞很诱人，但尚未得到证实。然而，这可能是一个有趣的理论，将 ATH 和 OA 联系起来，这可能为 OA 的新型治疗干预开辟新途径，利用 ATH 的先前知识。
