Aspirin 'could help slow knee osteoarthritis progression'

A new study from Australia has highlighted the potential benefits that aspirin can provide in slowing the progression of knee osteoarthritis.

Knee osteoarthritis affects around six million people in the UK and is a major cause of disability.

The Monash University research examined whether use of low-dose aspirin affects change in knee cartilage volume in osteoarthritis, with 117 patients from Melbourne involved in the study cohort.

As well as being widely used as for pain relief, aspirin is commonly employed in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. In low doses, it offers anti-inflammatory and vasculoprotective effects, both of which can be useful in mitigating the impact of osteoarthritis.

A total of 21 participants from the Melbourne osteoarthritis cohort (18 per cent of the group) were classified as users of aspirin, according to baseline use. All of the study participants' knees were imaged twice over two years, with tibial cartilage volumes measured and changes calculated.

Results published in the Maturitas journal revealed that the annual reduction in medial tibial cartilage was lower in aspirin users than in non-users, even after adjusting for age, gender, body mass index and radiographic severity, and regardless of whether this was measured in terms of overall volume or annual percentage loss.

The researchers concluded: "Low-dose aspirin use was associated with reduced medial tibial cartilage loss over two years in people with knee osteoarthritis.

"This data is hypothesis generating and clinical trials are required to confirm efficacy. If this hypothesis is confirmed, low-dose aspirin may be used to reduce the progression of knee osteoarthritis."

A spokeswoman for Arthritis Research UK commented: "Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin can be used to reduce the pain of knee osteoarthritis. This study raises the interesting suggestion that a low dose of aspirin may also be able to prevent cartilage loss.

"This is an intriguing theory which would have to be tested in much larger numbers of people in clinical trials before patients could be advised to take aspirin not to relieve pain, but to reduce loss of cartilage.

"At the moment, weight loss, exercise and ultimately joint replacement surgery are the most effective ways of managing knee osteoarthritis, but we're working hard to find better and more effective treatments, from stem cell therapies to exercise programmes, knee braces and orthotic devices."

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