ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:Osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease, is not only a result from the breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone, but also an imbalance of bone remodeling and crosstalk among tissues in the joints. OBJECTIVE: To review the effect of bone-cartilage crosstalk in the progression of osteoarthritis and its new treatment strategy. METHODS: A computer-based search of PubMed and CNKI databases was performed for relevant literatures about the relationship between the progress of osteoarthritis and the bone-cartilage crosstalk published from 2007 to 2017. The keywords were cartilage, interaction, osteoarthritis, pathogenesis, cytokines, signaling pathway in English and Chinese, respectively. The relationship between the progress of osteoarthritis and the bone-cartilage crosstalk was summarized in views of cytokines, signaling pathway, and new treatment strategy. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Totally 169 articles were retrieved, and finally 54 eligible papers were enrolled based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. There is a close physical association between subchondral bone and cartilage, and the bone-cartilage interface is a functioning synergistic unit. Increased vascularization, micro-crack formation and abnormal bone remodeling may accelerate the molecules transporting from cartilage to bone in osteoarthritis. Therefore, the bone-cartilage crosstalk plays a pivotal role in the occurrence and development of osteoarthritis.