Lab Notes: Building a Better Knee

The osteoporosis drug teriparatide (Forteo) may have another therapeutic use -- regenerating joint cartilage lost in osteoarthritis.

In a series of animal experiments, the drug both protected the cells that generate cartilage and regenerated new ones, according to Erik Sampson, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Rochester Medical Center in upstate New York.

In a mouse model of osteoarthritis, giving the drug for a month resulted in knee-joint cartilage that was 32% thicker than in control animals, the researchers said in Science Translational Medicine. MedPage Today