Sodium pentosan polysulfate resulted in cartilage improvement in knee osteoarthritis - An open clinical trial-

Twenty patients were assessed clinically at Nagasaki University Hospital. The radiographic indications of OA were grade 1 to 3 using the Kellgren-Lawrence Grading System (K/L grade). Pentosan used in this study was manufactured and supplied in sterile injectable vials (100 mg/ml) by bene GmbH, Munich, Germany. The study was a single-center, open-label trial. Treatment consisted of 6 weekly subcutaneous injections (sc) of pentosan (2 mg/kg). Patients were clinically assessed at entry and 1 to 8, 11, 15, 24 & 52 weeks post treatment. The results were analyzed using one way ANOVA and Dunnett's method.Hydrarthroses were reduced quickly in all cases. The clinical assessments, i.e., knee flexion, pain while walking, pain after climbing up and down stairs, etc, were improved significantly and these clinical improvements continued for almost one year. The dose used in this study affected the blood coagulation test, but was within safe levels. Slightly abnormal findings were noted in serum triglycerides.Pentosan treatment in twenty patients with mild knee OA seemed to provide improvements in clinical assessments and C2C level of cartilage metabolism.UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN-CTR) UMIN000002790Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most widespread joint disease affecting the elderly population [1]. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), supplements of chondroitin sulfate and/or glycosaminoglycans are prescribed as non-operative treatments. Recently, intraarticular injection of hyaluronic acid (HA) has become a common treatment. Within the last few decades, the concept of disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs (DMOADs) has been explored as an alternative therapeutic treatment for OA.From the results of previous in vitro and animal model studies, we have proposed that the spectrum of pharmacological activities exhibited by pentosan polysulfate sodium (pentosan) would qualify it as DMOADs. However, there is little human clinical evidence to support this proposition. The a