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What if osteoarthritis were an immune disease?
26 janvier 2026
By Ana Espino | Published on January 26, 2026 | 3 min readOsteoarthritis is the most common joint disease, affecting over 300 million people worldwide. Long viewed as a simple consequence of mechanical cartilage wear, it is now recognized as a complex disorder involving mechanical, metabolic, and immune factors. Current treatments remain symptomatic: analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory dru
Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease, affecting over 300 million people worldwide. Long viewed as a simple consequence of mechanical cartilage wear, it is now recognized as a complex disorder involving mechanical, metabolic, and immune factors.
Current treatments remain symptomatic: analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, joint injections, and eventually surgery. No therapy currently slows or reverses the degenerative process. The failure of purely mechanical or conventional anti-inflammatory approaches highlights the urgent need to better understand the underlying mechanisms of the disease.
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Scientific reference
Moulin D, et al. The role of the immune system in osteoarthritis: mechanisms, challenges and future directions. Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2025 Apr;21(4):221-236. doi: 10.1038/s41584-025-01223-y. Epub 2025 Mar 13. PMID: 40082724
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