In a recent study published by researchers from the Gail Holmes Equine Orthopaedic Research Center at Colorado State University, both intra-articular medications polysulfated glycosaminoglycan (PSGAG) and hyaluronic acid (HA) possessed the ability to alter cartilage metabolism in treated horses.

"These study results clearly indicate that both drugs are viable therapeutic options for osteoarthritis in horses with osteoarthritis," reported lead author David Frisbie, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS.

To evaluate the effect of PSGAG and HA on clinical signs and various other measures of osteoarthritis, researchers utilized 24 horses with a similar degree of osteoarthritis in one carpal joint. Eight horses were injected with PSGAG, eight horses were injected with HA, and eight horses served as the untreated control group. Injections were administered 14, 21, and 28 days post-operatively. The researchers evaluated the horses for 70 days after induction of osteoarthritis.

"Despite the fact that we did not observe any difference in the clinical signs of lameness between the treated and control horses, both HA and PSGAG did exhibit disease-modifying properties determined by the post-treatment analysis of the structure and metabolism of the articular cartilage," said Frisbie