Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a complex disease plagued by a significant unmet need for treatment. To date, no disease- modifying OA drugs (DMOADs) exist and the available symptom-modifying OA drugs (SMOADs) have limitations. Although a complete understanding of the mechanisms of OA pain in humans is lacking, animal models have helped provide insight into the multifaceted origin and manifestation of OA pain. Success in discovering new therapeutics will likely require reliance on good animal models. This review summarizes the animal models available for studying pain associated with OA.

Keywords: Osteoarthritis, pain, nociception, animal models, DMOAD, SMOAD, disease-modifying OA drugs (DMOADs), symptom-modifying OA drugs (SMOADs), manifestation of OA pain, bone marrow lesions, synovial proliferation, magnetic resonance imaging, high resolution computer tomography (HRCT), bone marrow edema, Joint pain