Mechanism of action of intra-articular hyaluronan therapy in osteoarthritis

Potential mechanism of action of intra-articular hyaluronan therapy in osteoarthritis: are the effects molecular weight dependent?

Article specifications

This review study was published in 2002 in journal of Semin Arthritis Rheum. (IF 2002:3.75) by Australian orthopedics. A review in vitro and in vivo reports to identify those pharmacologic activities of HA that were considered relevant to the ability of this agent to relieve symptoms and protect joint tissues in OA.

 

Results

By mitigating the activities of proinflammatory mediators and pain producing neuropeptides released by activated synovial cells, HA may improve the symptoms of OA. In addition, HAs within the MW range of 0.5 x 10(6)-1.0 x 10(6) Da partially restore SF rheological properties and synovial fibroblast metabolism in animal models. These pharmacologic activities of HA could account for the reported long-term clinical benefits of this OA therapy. However, clinical evidence has yet to be described to support the animal studies that indicated that HAs with MW > 2.3 x 10(6) Da may be less effective in restoring SF rheology than HAs of half this size.