Stanford identifies 15-PGDH enzyme blocking cartilage repair

Stanford Medicine researchers found that the enzyme 15-PGDH rises in aging and injured cartilage and suppresses repair signaling. Blocking it restored hyaline articular cartilage in aged mice and human tissue samples from knee-replacement surgery, but no clinical trial has tested the approach in patients.

• Inhibiting 15-PGDH regenerated hyaline cartilage in human knee-replacement samples
• Mice with osteoarthritis received the inhibitor twice weekly for four weeks
• Treated mice showed less pain and more normal weight-bearing behavior
• No clinical trial has yet tested 15-PGDH inhibition in patients