Metabolomic Profiles and Pathways in Osteoarthritic Human Cartilage: A Comparative Analysis with Healthy Cartilage.

The results of this study demonstrate that human cartilage has distinct metabolomic profiles between healthy and end-stage osteoarthritis patients. By taking a comprehensive approach to assess metabolic differences between healthy and osteoarthritic cartilage, and within osteoarthritic cartilage alone, several metabolic pathways with distinct regulation patterns were detected. Additional investigation may lead to the identification of metabolites that may serve as valuable indicators of disease status or potential therapeutic targets.