Potential disease marker, therapeutic target for cats with osteoarthritis identified

By comparing osteoarthritis pain pathways known to be active in dogs and humans to those in cats with degenerative joint disease (DJD), researchers found that elevation of a particular molecule, artemin, could serve as a marker of disease (and possibly pain) as well as a potential therapeutic target. The findings offer the most comprehensive evidence to date that naturally occurring osteoarthritis (OA) in cats mirrors important biological features of human disease. The study appears in Frontiers in Pain Research.