Mechanism of cartilage destruction in osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common diseases among the elderly. For many years, OA was considered a normal result of the aging process with few treatment options. Remarkable progress in understanding OA cartilage has been achieved in recent years. The application of technical advances to clinical studies of chondrocytes and cartilage tissue metabolism will provide important new insights concerning the pathophysiology of OA and identify new therapeutic strategies to regulate and inhibit the degenerative process of OA. However, many problems remain unresolved. In this review we try to focus on recent advances in the field of cartilage metabolism and molecular markers to facilitate the determination of a patients prognosis and the need for cartilage protective treatment.