Potential Influences of Ketoprofen on Human Healthy And Osteoarthritic Cartilage In Vitro

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Abstract
Ketoprofen (Orudis, Rhone-Poulenc) is an anti-inflammatory drug with analgesic properties that is used in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis (OA). It is therefore of interest to know whether ketoprofen has a direct influence on cartilage metabolism. We studied the effects of ketoprofen in therapeutic concentrations, on proteoglycan (PG) turnover in explants of human cartilage. The cartilage specimens were divided into three groups: healthy young (.ltoreq. 3 yrs) n = 8, healthy old (mean 56 yrs) n = 13 and OA cartilage (.gtoreq. 65 yrs) n = 15. The rate of PG synthesis at day 4 of the culture was measured by the uptake of 35S sulphate. Cartilage PG content and PG release into the medium were determined over 8 days of culture. Ketoprofen stimulated the rate of PG synthesis of young cartilage, but not of old cartilage. In OA cartilage both stimulation and suppression occurred. Ketoprofen had no influence on cartilage PG content and PG release of healthy or OA cartilage during the 8 days of culture. The cartilage was examined histologically, and graded for severity of OA. There was no relation between the severity of OA and the effect of ketoprofen.