Osteoarthritis affects as many as 30 million Americans, but treatment has traditionally been limited to managing symptoms with pain relievers and lifestyle changes. In a new Nature study, YSM researchers identify a new therapeutic target that could help slow and reverse joint damage from osteoarthritis.
Yale researchers have identified a drug target that may alleviate joint degeneration associated with osteoarthritis, a debilitating condition that afflicts as many as 30 million people in the United States alone, they report Jan. 3 in the journal Nature.
Pain relievers and lifestyle changes, such as exercise and reduced excess weight, have long been the therapies most commonly used to treat the joint stiffness and pain caused by the degenerative disease, but there is a pressing need for therapies that can prevent joint breakdown that occurs in osteoarthritis.
It is known that specialized proteins known as sodium channels found in cell membranes produce electrical impulses in “excitable” cells within muscles, the nervous system, and the heart. And in previous research, Yale’s Stephen G. Waxman identified the key role of one particular sodium channel, called Nav1.7, in the transmission of pain signals.
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