Osteoarthritis in Horses: Description, Diagnosis and Therapeutic Alternatives

Abstract

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that corresponds to one of the most common causes of lameness in horses with large economic losses and animal welfare problems because of pain. Articular cartilage plays a central role in the pathology;however, subchondral bone and synovial membrane play a crucial role in mitigating forces and joint lubrication. The synovium is an important source of inflammatory and matrix degrading trigger the cascade of degenerative osteoarthritis increasing damage to the articular cartilage cytokines enzymes, this in conjunction with alterations in the structure of subchondral bone increases the damage. There are several diagnostic methods being the most common radiography, however it is not the most efficient due to the lack of correlation with clinical disease, biomarkers may lead to a diagnostic method early which allows early treatment of the disease. Treatments for osteoarthritis focus on recovering articulate and reduce synovial inflammation most commonly used cortico-steroids, NSAIDS and hyaluronate for this purpose, new forms of treatment known as regenerative therapies may promote cartilage repair being lubrication.