{
  "abstract": "Introduction: Veterinary osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic whole-joint disorder that causes pain, gait impairment, reduced activity, and diminished quality of life in companion and performance animals. Current multimodal management includes weight control, rehabilitation, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, prostaglandin E2 EP4 receptor antagonists, anti-nerve growth factor monoclonal antibodies, intra-articular therapies, and nutraceuticals. Although these interventions improve pain and function, they generally do not restore the cartilage extracellular matrix or provide sustained disease modification. Functional peptides have emerged as promising candidates because of their potential to suppress inflammation, inhibit matrix degradation, promote chondrogenesis, target damaged cartilage, and support sustained or targeted delivery.\n\nMethods: This narrative review evaluated the pathobiological rationale, veterinary evidence, peptide classes, delivery technologies, pharmacological requirements, and translational barriers relevant to veterinary OA. Targeted literature searches and qualitative evidence appraisal focused on clinical relevance, peptide mechanisms, delivery strategies, species-specific limitations, and the distinction between nutritional collagen hydrolysates and sequence-defined therapeutic peptides.\n\nResults: Oral bioactive collagen peptides currently provide the most direct clinical evidence in naturally occurring canine and equine OA. However, the principal canine trial was limited by modest sample size and duration, predominantly symptomatic rather than structural outcomes, and manufacturer support. Thus, the available evidence supports potential adjunctive clinical benefit rather than a disease-modifying claim. Sequence-defined hyaluronan-binding, bone morphogenetic protein receptor-mimetic, collagen-binding, collagen-hybridizing, and cartilage-targeting peptides have demonstrated mechanistic or delivery advantages in cell, tissue, rodent, and selected large-animal studies, but target-species pharmacokinetic and clinical validation remains limited.\n\nDiscussion: A credible development pathway should integrate target-specific activity, protease stability, immunogenicity, manufacturability, species-appropriate delivery, joint exposure, repeated-dose safety, objective gait and activity outcomes, and structural endpoints. Functional peptides are unlikely to replace multimodal care in the near term but may become valuable adjunctive platforms and contribute to future disease-modifying strategies when biological activity is supported by demonstrated joint exposure, structural protection, and rigorous comparative trials.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Chemistry, Kunsan National University , ,",
    "Department of Global Beauty Art, Kunsan National University , ,",
    "Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Cheongju University , ,"
  ],
  "article_type": "review article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Soo-Cheol Choi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Min Gyeong Song"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Sun Young Yi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Sung Hoon Lee"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "In Ah Lee"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/adqd8s6x67nvr.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fvets.2026.1974160",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13729709/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "adqd8s6x67nvr",
  "issns": [
    "2297-1769"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13729709",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Review"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2745|Osteoarthritis Treatment and Mechanisms"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223035614",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13729709/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13729709",
  "pmid": "42979426",
  "published": "2026-10-20",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/adqd8s6x67nvr.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T15:20:45Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13729709",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13729709"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-07T12:22:27Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13729709",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2026.1974160"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2745|Osteoarthritis Treatment and Mechanisms",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Functional peptide therapeutics for veterinary osteoarthritis: mechanisms, delivery systems, and translational priorities",
  "title_text": "Functional peptide therapeutics for veterinary osteoarthritis: mechanisms, delivery systems, and translational priorities",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-07T12:22:27Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/adqd8s6x67nvr",
  "venue": "Frontiers in veterinary science",
  "versions": []
}