Interleukin-1-beta is a key player in the osteoarthritis inflammatory process and inhibiting it may help slow the disease process, according to an exploratory analysis of the Canakinumab Anti-inflammatory Thrombosis Outcomes Study (CANTOS).

Participants in the CANTOS trial who were treated with the IL-1-beta inhibitor canakinumab had a significantly lower rate of total hip or total knee replacements over an average follow-up of nearly four years.

This “intriguing” finding deserves further investigation in developing potential disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs, write the authors of an accompanying editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study found canakinumab (150mg or 300mg subcutaneously every three months for up to five years) significantly reduced cardiovascular events in patients with a history of myocardial infarction and elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein.