New diagnostic tools and methodological approaches: an outlook to the future.

In spite of recent progress, the aetio-pathogenesis of a large number of osteoarticular diseases is as yet not well known. This is apparent for commonly occurring diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), type I osteoporosis (post-menopausal) and type II osteoporosis (senile). As a result of the lack of knowledge about these pathogenic factors, therapeutics often remain symptomatic and not completely satisfactory. Nowadays there is a need for methodological tools to explore the causes or pathogenic factors of these conditions. Moreover, in OA, there is at present no way to predict the development of this disease and to follow its evolution, hence, there is a need for specific markers. These biological and methodological developments are useful for searching for new molecules able to compensate for the pathogenic anomalies demonstrated in RA and OA. In this paper, we will discuss some of the methodological developments now in progress which may provide solutions to some of the aetiopathogenic, diagnostic and therapeutic problems related to RA and OA.