Osteoarthritis: Evolutionary consequence?

Abstract

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease that affects the joints and is a multifactorial disease. This article aims to analyze its evolutionary consequences and the factors that influence the phenotypic diversity of the disease. Phenotypic variation among living things is crucial to enable natural selection, but this variation needs to be limited to avoid the collapse of the vital functions of the organic system. Skeletal tissue cell types have their origins in aquatic animals and have maintained their characteristics and signaling pathways during the transition to terrestrial life, with conserved epigenetic modifications. Phenotypic diversity in the osteochondral unit occurs due to processes of ontogeny, remodeling, phenotypic variation, adaptation, and environmental sensitivity. These processes involve internal and external stressors, orderly transitions of cell development, changes in the timing of development, rapid adaptation, and epigenetic modifications.