Yale University study: epilepsy drug "lacosamide" combined with hydrogel has potential to treat knee arthritis

The most uncomfortable thing about knee arthritis is not only the pain, but also the continued wear and tear of the cartilage, gradually deteriorating joint function. A Yale University research team found that a drug originally used to treat epilepsy may simultaneously relieve pain, reduce cartilage degradation, and even promote the recovery of damaged cartilage; however, it is still pre-clinical research.

The science website "SciTechDaily" reported that the research results were published in the journal "Bioactive Materials". At present, most treatments for osteoarthritis focus on pain relief and anti-inflammatory. Drugs that can directly prevent the continued degradation of cartilage are still quite limited. The Yale team therefore sought treatments that could address both pain and cartilage damage.

Researchers found that a protein involved in pain signaling is also involved in cartilage degradation. When this protein is overactive, it can worsen pain and make cartilage more susceptible to damage.

The team further tested a variety of drugs that were already in clinical use and found that the epilepsy drug Lacosamide had the most outstanding effect. Experiments have shown that it reduces cartilage breakdown, promotes cartilage formation, and reduces pain and cartilage damage in animal models of osteoarthritis. Studies have also been conducted using human osteoarthritis cartilage tissue and observed similar cartilage protective effects.

The research team then addressed another issue: If the drug is injected directly into the knee joint, it may be quickly excreted by the body. The researchers therefore packed the drug into a special hydrogel. After being injected into the joint, it will form a gel at body temperature, allowing the drug to stay in the affected area and be slowly released.

In experiments on mice, this medicated hydrogel was able to continuously reduce cartilage damage and pain when injected every four weeks; the study also found that direct injection into joints showed significant effects at lower doses.

The research team believes that lacosamide has already been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of epilepsy, so if it is subsequently confirmed to be effective for osteoarthritis, redevelopment of the drug may be faster than developing a new drug from scratch. However, this research is still pending human clinical trials, and it cannot yet prove that this drug can actually repair patients' cartilage. The next step for the research team is to confirm the efficacy and safety through human trials.