Song Yanhong, Wu Ziyi, Zhao Ping
Department of Anesthesiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
Front Pharmacol. 2022 Aug 23;13:952560. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.952560. eCollection 2022.
Osteoarthritis is a chronic and irreversible disease of the locomotor system which is closely associated with advancing age. Pain and limited mobility frequently affect the quality of life in middle-aged and older adults. With a global population of more than 350 million, osteoarthritis is becoming a health threat alongside cancer and cardiovascular disease. It is challenging to find effective treatments to promote cartilage repair and slow down disease progression. Metformin is the first-line drug for patients with type 2 diabetes, and current perspectives suggest that it cannot only lower glucose but also has anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties. Experimental studies applying metformin for the treatment of osteoarthritis have received much attention in recent years. In our review, we first presented the history of metformin and the current status of osteoarthritis, followed by a brief review of the mechanism that metformin acts, involving AMPK-dependent and non-dependent pathways. Moreover, we concluded that metformin may be beneficial in the treatment of osteoarthritis by inhibiting inflammation, modulating autophagy, antagonizing oxidative stress, and reducing pain levels. Finally, we analyzed the relevant evidence from animal and human studies. The potential of metformin for the treatment of osteoarthritis deserves to be further explored.
骨关节炎是一种慢性且不可逆的运动系统疾病，与年龄增长密切相关。疼痛和活动受限常常影响中老年人群的生活质量。骨关节炎患者全球超过3.5亿，它正与癌症和心血管疾病一样成为一种健康威胁。寻找促进软骨修复和减缓疾病进展的有效治疗方法具有挑战性。二甲双胍是2型糖尿病患者的一线用药，目前的观点认为它不仅能降低血糖，还具有抗炎和抗衰老特性。近年来，应用二甲双胍治疗骨关节炎的实验研究备受关注。在我们的综述中，我们首先介绍了二甲双胍的历史和骨关节炎的现状，接着简要回顾了二甲双胍发挥作用的机制，包括依赖AMPK和不依赖AMPK的途径。此外，我们得出结论，二甲双胍可能通过抑制炎症、调节自噬、对抗氧化应激和降低疼痛水平而对骨关节炎治疗有益。最后，我们分析了来自动物和人体研究的相关证据。二甲双胍治疗骨关节炎的潜力值得进一步探索。
