LAUSR

For a long time, research on osteoarthritis (OA) has mainly focused fibrates decrease cartilage damage and reduce both local (synovial) and on alterations and treatment of cartilage morphological features, even though it is now widely acknowledged that other tissues such as synovium, subchondral bone, menisci, ligaments, periarticular muscles, and adipose tissue are equally involved in its pathology [1,2]. In particular, the latter takes part in inflammatory processes and imbalanced metabolism, within the joint, by releasing cytokines and adipokines [1]. It is widely known, nowadays that OA is a multifactorial degenerative and severe disease, in which several factors concur to its onset [2]. Only recently, the concept of the metabolic syndrome-associated OA type emerged next to the post-traumatic and age-related ones [1,2]. There is emerging evidence that beyond the role of common systemic pathogenic mechanisms shared by metabolic diseases and OA, such as low-grade inflammation and oxidative stress, the samediseasesmay induce a local effect on the joints [3]. Proteomic analyses in isolated healthy and osteoarthritic chondrocytes show that some proteins, including peroxisome proliferators-activated receptors (PPAR) and apolipoproteins, are related to lipidmetabolism [4]. Peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor α (PPARα), in particular, modulates the uptake and catabolism of fatty acids by upregulation of genes involved in fatty acid transport, binding and activation, and peroxisomal and mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation. Moreover, PPARα ligands exert antiinflammatory effects on various cell types, including macrophages, smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, lymphocytes, and other cell types. It has been shown that PPARα activation has an antiinflammatory effect determined by the inhibition of the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor κB (NFκB) by the upregulation of inhibitor κB (IκB) [5]. Pharmacological PPARα agonists, or fibrates, which have long been used for the treatment of dyslipidemia are recently being used in experimental and clinical studies for their anti-inflammatory effects [6]. This pleiotropic effect of fibratesmakes thema potential candidate for the treatment of OA. By exerting anti-inflammatory effects, the