The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma agonist pioglitazone reduces the development of cartilage lesions in an experimental dog model of osteoarthritis: in vivo protective effects mediated through the inhibition of key signaling and catabolic pathways.

Objective: Emerging evidence indicates that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) may have protective effects in osteoarthritis (OA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vivo effect of a PPARgamma agonist, pioglitazone, on the development of lesions in a canine model of OA, and to explore the influence of pioglitazone on the major signaling and metabolic pathways involved in OA pathophysiologic changes.

Methods: OA was surgically induced in dogs by sectioning of the anterior cruciate ligament.

The protective effect of licofelone on experimental osteoarthritis is correlated with the downregulation of gene expression and protein synthesis of several major cartilage catabolic factors: MMP-13, cathepsin K and aggrecanases.

This study sought to evaluate the levels of mRNA expression and protein synthesis of MMP-13, cathepsin K, aggrecanase-1 (ADAMTS-4), aggrecanase-2 (ADAMTS-5) and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) in cartilage in the experimental anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) dog model of osteoarthritis (OA), and to examine the effects of treatment with licofelone, a 5-lipoxygenase (LOX)/cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor, on the levels of these catabolic factors. Sectioning of the ACL of the right knee was performed in three experimental groups: group 1 received no active treatment (placebo group); and groups 2 and 3 received therapeutic concentrations of licofelone (2.5 or 5.

Oral treatment with PD-0200347, an alpha2delta ligand, reduces the development of experimental osteoarthritis by inhibiting metalloproteinases and inducible nitric oxide synthase gene expression and synthesis in cartilage chondrocytes.

Objective: To examine the in vivo effects of PD-0200347, an alpha(2)delta ligand of voltage-activated Ca(2+) channels and a compound chemically related to pregabalin and gabapentin, on the development of cartilage structural changes in an experimental dog model of osteoarthritis (OA). The effects of PD-0200347 on the major pathways involved in OA cartilage degradation, including matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and the inducible form of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), were also studied.

Methods: OA was surgically induced in dogs by sectioning the anterior cruciate ligament.

The inhibition of subchondral bone resorption in the early phase of experimental dog osteoarthritis by licofelone is associated with a reduction in the synthesis of MMP-13 and cathepsin K.

Objective: To evaluate the morphological changes that take place in the subchondral bone and calcified cartilage zone in the experimental anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) dog model of osteoarthritis (OA) and analyze concomitant changes in the level of MMP-13 and cathepsin K, as well as examine the therapeutic effects of licofelone, a lipoxygenase (LO)/cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor, on these morphological and biochemical changes.

Methods: Experimental group 1 underwent sectioning of the ACL of the right knee with no active treatment (placebo group). Experimental groups 2 and 3 underwent sectioning of the ACL of the right knee and were administered therapeutic concentrations of licofelone (2.