The use of intra-articular injection of sprifermin (a recombinant human fibroblast growth factor 18) was found safe in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA), a study in Arthritis Research & Therapy eludicated.

Ni Zeng et al. performed this meta-analysis which compared the structural progression and clinical symptom outcomes along with adverse events of sprifermin in case of KOA. A systematic literature search found 8 studies associated with long-term outcomes between sprifermin and placebo injections in KOA patients were considered. RevMan5.3 was used to perform meta-analysis.

As compared to placebo, the patients using sprifermin injection experienced considerably less improvement of Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index scores. Also, sprifermin , intra-articular injection helped to improve the cartilage thickness and volume in key spheroid part of the stifle joint in KOA patients. A significant difference in terms of variations in the morphology of cartilage surface of the medial tibiofemoral and patellofemoral joint was observed in sprifermin and placebo users. No noteworthy difference was observed in the risk of treatment-emergent adverse events between sprifermin and the placebo users.

Sprifermin can be considered as a possible disease-modifying osteoarthritis therapy but after the validation of further studies to determining its safety and efficacy in KOA patients.