Methotrexate For Osteoarthritis...

Welcome Back Rheumatology (Osteoarthritis) Fans,

I do like something that combines Rheumatology (in this case Methotrexate) and Osteoarthritis (in this case Osteoarthritis). This article does that.

Methotrexate

Methotrexate was originally a chemotherapy drug but for the benefit of people with inflammatory diseases - particularly Rheumatoid Arthritis and Psoriatic Arthtritis it also reduces the production of interleukins (IL) which are pro-inflammatory. Particularly IL-6 is implicated in the chronicity of the Rheumatic Diseases continuing “acute phase” inflammatory processes abnormally.

Inhibiting IL-6 with Methotrexate is first line treatment for conditions like RA which are auto-inflammatory in nature. We see non-steroidal anit-inflammatories (NSAIDs) and steroids have some effects on Osteoarthritis showing pharmacological management of OA symptoms to be possible.