Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0028754 (obesity)
 124,988 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common cause of musculoskeletal disability and pain in the world. The current drug treatment for OA is symptom relieving, and there is an urgent need for treatments that could retard, prevent or repair cartilage destruction in OA. Obesity is a major risk factor for OA. Traditionally, it has been thought to contribute to the development of OA by increasing the load on weight-bearing joints. However, this appears to be an over-simplification, because obesity is also linked to OA in the hand and finger joints. Recent studies have shown that adipocytokine leptin is a possible link between obesity and OA: Leptin levels in synovial fluid are increased in obese patients, leptin receptor (Ob-R) is expressed in cartilage, and leptin induces the production of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), pro-inflammatory mediators and nitric oxide (NO) in chondrocytes. Furthermore, according to the very recent findings, not only leptin levels in the joint but also leptin sensitivity in the cartilage are enhanced in obese OA patients. The findings supporting leptin as a causative link between obesity and OA offer leptin as a potential target to the development of disease-modifying drugs for osteoarthritis (DMOAD), especially for obese patients.
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PMID:Leptin - a link between obesity and osteoarthritis. applications for prevention and treatment. 2413 53

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is the most common diagnosis in patients with back pain, a leading cause of musculoskeletal disability worldwide. Several conditions, such as occupational activities, gender, age, and obesity, have been associated with IDD. However, the development of this disease has strong genetic determinants. In this study, we explore the possible association between rs1800587 (c.-949C>T) of interleukin-1 alpha (IL1A) and rs2228570 (c.2T>V) and rs731236 (c.1056T>C) of vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and the development of IDD in northwestern Mexican Mestizo population. Gene polymorphisms were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism, in two groups matched by age and gender: patients with symptomatic lumbar IDD (n = 100) and subjects with normal lumbar-spine MRI-scans (n = 100). Distribution of the mutated alleles in patients and controls was 27.0% versus 28.0% (P = 0.455) for T of rs1800587 (IL1A); 53.0% versus 58.0% (P = 0.183) for V of rs2228570 (VDR); and 18.0% versus 21.0% (P = 0.262) for C of rs731236 (VDR). Our results showed no association between the studied polymorphisms and IDD in this population. This is the first report on the contribution of gene polymorphisms on IDD in a Mexican population.
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PMID:Genetic polymorphisms of interleukin-1 alpha and the vitamin d receptor in mexican mestizo patients with intervertebral disc degeneration. 2550 53

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common causes of musculoskeletal disability in the world. Traditionally, it has been thought that obesity contributes to the development and progression of OA by increased mechanical load of the joint structures. Nevertheless, studies have shown that adipose tissue-derived cytokines (adipocytokines) are a possible link between obesity and OA. Furthermore, according to recent findings, not only articular cartilage may be the main target of these cytokines but also the synovial membrane, subchondral bone and infrapatellar fat pad may be encompassed in the process of degradation. This review presents the most recent reports on the contribution of adipocytokines to the knee joint cartilage degradation, osteophyte formation, infrapatellar fat pad alterations and synovitis.
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PMID:The role of adipocytokines in the pathogenesis of knee joint osteoarthritis. 2571 11