In preclinical tests, low-dose lacosamide in a joint gel slowed cartilage loss more than a daily oral dose; this is not an approved osteoarthritis use

What the research found

Study (preclinical; the release does not report a human osteoarthritis trial). ScienceDaily carried the Yale School of Medicine account on 8 October 2026. Chaopeng He, Chuan-Ju Liu, and colleagues report in Bioactive Materials (2026; 61:640; doi 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2026.02.045). Lacosamide is an approved epilepsy drug. The group tested it against Nav1.7, a sodium-channel protein they say is quiet in healthy joints and more active in osteoarthritis, both in pain nerves and in cartilage cells. In the preclinical work, a low concentration pushed cartilage cells toward building-matrix proteins and away from breakdown. Higher and lower concentrations weakened that pattern. The drug also raised HSP70 and midkine, which the authors tie to stress response and inflammation control. An oral dose worked in the same preclinical tests, but the knee clears injected liquid within hours. They put lacosamide in a collagen II gel that is liquid in a cool syringe and sets at body temperature. One gel injection every four weeks prevented cartilage loss more than a daily oral dose in those tests. Liu said no medicine approved for both stopping osteoarthritis pain and stopping cartilage breakdown exists yet, and that this joint use is not an approved osteoarthritis indication. People with certain Nav1.7 nerve-pain conditions have taken lacosamide. That is not this joint study. Educational notes. Not medical advice. Not a substitute for a prescribed medicine. Using an epilepsy drug for joints would be off-label and is clinician-only. Do not start, stop, or replace a prescription from this headline.

Evidence level: Human study. A study in people, but an association isn't proof of cause.

Read the original at Yale School of Medicine / Bioactive Materials