image: Surgical replacement of worn joints has been remarkably successful in relieving pain and restoring mobility for many thousands of people worldwide. However, one limiting factor in surgically replacing diseased or damaged joints is that over time many of the artificial joints fail and need to be revised or replaced. One important element in failure of artificial joints is that wear particles, particles of the cement or fragments of metal sheared off the prosthesis, can provoke inflammation leading to destruction of the bone surrounding the joint replacement and, ultimately, loosening of the prosthesis. In this paper the authors report that agents that stimulate adenosine A2A receptors suppress the inflammation induced by wear particles and prevent the destruction of bone. It may, therefore, be possible to prolong the useful life of artificial joints by using agents that act at the A2A receptor to inhibit destruction of the bone surrounding the artificial joint. This image relates to a paper that appeared in the May 23, 2012 issue of Science Translational Medicine, published by AAAS. The paper, by Dr. A. Mediero at the New York University School of Medicine in New York, N.Y., and colleagues, was titled, "Adenosine A2A Receptor Activation Prevents Wear Particle-Induced Osteolysis." view more
Credit: Image © <i>Science</i>/AAAS