Symptomatic knee osteoarthritis occurs among 10% of men and 13% of women aged 60 years or older.¹ Worldwide, knee osteoarthritis, together with hip osteoarthritis, are the 11th leading cause of global disability, accounting for 2.2% of total years lived with disability.² Medical costs of osteoarthritis account for 1% to 2.5% of the gross domestic product in developed countries.³ Currently there are no disease-modifying therapies for osteoarthritis; therefore, there is a need to develop cost-effective approaches to prevent the development and progression of osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting 250 million people worldwide.¹ Knee osteoarthritis is characterized by knee pain and structural changes, leading to disability, impaired quality of life, and economic burden.^2-4 Alleviating pain and preventing structural progression are 2 major treatment goals for osteoarthritis.⁵ However, pain control remains poor in more than half of patients,⁶ and no approved disease-modifying therapies have been identified that prevent structural progression of knee osteoarthritis.

Background The infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) is of uncertain significance for knee osteoarthritis. The aim of this study was to describe the longitudinal associations between baseline IPFP maximal area and changes in knee pain, knee cartilage volume and cartilage defects in older adults. Methods 356 community-dwelling male and female adults aged 50–80 years were measured at baseline and approximately 2.6 years later. T1-weighted or T2-weighted fat-suppressed MRI was used to assess maximal IPFP area, cartilage volume and cartilage defects at baseline and/or follow-up. Knee pain was assessed by the self-administered Western Ontario McMaster Osteoarthritis Index questionnaire. Results After adjustment for confounders, IPFP maximal area in women was significantly and negatively associated with changes in knee pain (β: −0.18 to −0.86 for total knee pain, pain at night while in bed, pain when sitting/lying and pain when standing upright, all p<0.05) but not with other knee pain subscales. IPFP maximal area in women was beneficially associated with change in tibial cartilage volume per annum (β: +1.56% per cm² at medial site; +0.86% per cm² at lateral site, both p<0.05), but not with change in patellar cartilage volume. Further, it was significantly associated with reduced risks of increases in medial cartilage defects (relative risk: 0·46 at tibial site, relative risk: 0.59 at femoral site; both p<0.05) but not with increases at other sites in women. No significant associations were found in men. Conclusions While the associations are not fully consistent, IPFP maximal area appears to have a protective role for knee symptoms and cartilage damage in older female adults.

Some patients with osteoarthritis have localized effusion or synovitis of the knee; this group suggests an inflammatory phenotype of osteoarthritis that may benefit from anti-inflammatory therapy. ... Visual Effectiveness of Curcuma longa Extract in Knee Osteoarthritis Some patients with osteoarthritis have localized effusion or synovitis of the knee; this group suggests an inflammatory... Background: Current pharmacologic therapies for patients with osteoarthritis are suboptimal. Objective: To determine the efficacy of Curcuma longa extract (CL) for reducing knee symptoms and effusi...

Introduction: Recent studies regarding the infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) mainly focus on the roles of the cells derived from the IPFP. There have been few clinical or epidemiological studies reporting on the association between the IPFP and knee osteoarthritis (OA). Our objective is to generate hypotheses regarding the associations between IPFP maximum area and knee OA measures in older adults. Methods: A total of 977 subjects between 50 and 80 years of age (mean, 62.4 years) participated in the study. Radiographic knee osteophyte and joint space narrowing (JSN) were assessed using the Osteoarthritis Research Society International atlas. T1- or T2-weighted fat suppressed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was utilized to assess IPFP maximum area, cartilage volume, cartilage defects, and bone marrow lesions (BMLs). Knee pain was assessed by self-administered Western Ontario McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaire. Results: After adjustment for potential confounders, IPFP maximum area was significantly associated with joint space narrowing (odds ratio (OR): 0.75, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.62 to 0.91 (medial), 0.77, 95% CI: 0.62 to 0.96 (lateral)) and medial osteophytes (OR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.35 to 0.76), knee tibial and patellar cartilage volume (β: 56.9 to 164.9 mm³/cm², all P <0.001), tibial cartilage defects (OR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.41 to 0.81 (medial), 0.53, 95% CI: 0.40-0.71 (lateral)), any BMLs (OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.63 to 0.94), and knee pain on a flat surface (OR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.63 to 0.98). IPFP maximum area was negatively, but not significantly, associated with femoral cartilage defects, lateral tibiofemoral BMLs, and total knee pain or other knee pain subscales. Conclusion: IPFP maximum area is beneficially associated with radiographic OA, MRI structural pathology and knee pain on a flat surface suggesting a protective role for IPFP possibly through shock absorption. Consequently, we must pay special attention to IPFP in the clinical settings, avoiding resection of normal IPFP in knee surgery.