Combinatorial Prg4 and Il-1ra Gene Therapy Protects Against Hyperalgesia and Cartilage Degeneration in Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease of synovial joints characterized by progressive loss of articular cartilage, subchondral bone remodeling, and intra-articular inflammation with synovitis that results in chronic pain and motor impairment. Despite the economic and health impacts, current medical therapies are targeted at symptomatic relief of OA and fail to alter its progression. Given the complexity of OA pathogenesis, we hypothesized that a combinatorial gene therapy approach, designed to inhibit inflammation with interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) while promoting chondroprotection using lubricin (PRG4), would improve preservation of the joint compared to monotherapy alone.

Disease-Modifying Osteoarthritis Treatment With Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist Gene Therapy in Small and Large Animal Models.

Objective: Gene therapy holds great promise for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) because a single intraarticular injection can lead to long-term expression of therapeutic proteins within the joint. This study was undertaken to investigate the use of a helper-dependent adenovirus (HDAd)-mediated intraarticular gene therapy approach for long-term expression of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) as sustained symptomatic and disease-modifying therapy for OA.

Methods: In mouse models of OA, efficacy of HDAd-IL-1Ra was evaluated by histologic analysis, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), and hot plate analysis.