Abstract
Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease which leads to pain and disability. Recent studies focus on the role of obesity and metabolic syndrome in inducing or worsening joint damage in hand OA patients, suggesting that chronic low-grade systemic inflammation may represent a possible linking factor. The gut microbiome has a crucial metabolic role which is fundamental for immune system development, among other important functions. Intestinal microbiota dysbiosis may favour metabolic syndrome and low-grade inflammation—two important components of hand OA onset and evolution. The aim of this narrative is to review the recent literature concerning the possible contribution of dysbiosis to hand OA onset and progression, and to discuss the importance of gut dysbiosis on general health and disease.
Highlights
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a heterogeneous disease with a complex etiology, often associated with aging, trauma, genetic predisposition, and obesity-related metabolic dysfunction [1,2]
Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is a microbiota-generated metabolite derived from choline and carnitine, which are essential nutrients contained in many foods, including red meat, eggs, and dairy
A nutritionally poor, energy-dense diet, including a high-fat diet (HFD), is thought to be a major cause of obesity-related metabolic syndrome (MetS) [102,103,104], epidemiologic evidence shows that vitamin D deficiency is an independent risk factor for MetS in the elderly [105]—the age group mainly affected by hand OA
Summary
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a heterogeneous disease with a complex etiology, often associated with aging, trauma, genetic predisposition, and obesity-related metabolic dysfunction [1,2]. Hand OA is the most prevalent form of the disease [5], but still, there is an enormous gap between the guidelines for its management and the current standards of treatment [6,7,8]. Such gap may be a result of the limited amount of evidence-based knowledge on the specific pathophysiology of hand OA, the molecular mechanisms involved, and how it differentiates from OA at other joint sites. Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO) [11]
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