Table 1.

The micro-scale particles applied for OA therapy.

Drugs	Polymer type	Model	Results	References
Triamcinolone Acetonide (TA)	FX006	OA patients	Plasma TA gradually increased, residence time prolonged	Kraus et al. (2018)
Fluvastatin	PLGA	Rabbits with anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT)	Lower OARSI scores	Goto et al. (2017)
Ketoprofen	Carnaubawax	None	Sustained drug release	Oliveira et al. (2012)
Rhein	PLGA	LPS-stimulated THP-1 macrophages	Significantly decreased IL-1β and ROS	Gomez-Gaete et al. (2017)
Dexamethasone	PLGA	C57Bl/6 healthy mice	Did not induce any inflammatory reaction in the joint	Butoescu et al. (2009)
Doxycycline	Chondroitinsulfate/PCL	Albino adult male rabbits with intramuscular injection of 35 mg/kg ketamine hydrochloride	Significant reduction in MMP-13 levels, had favorable improvement of OA in histology results	Aydin et al. (2015)
Lornoxicam	Chitosan/tripoly-phosphate	Monoiodoacetate(MIA) induced arthritis model in rats	Long-term anti-inflammatory effect	Abd-Allah et al. (2016)
Sulforaphane	PLGA	SD rats with ACLT	Inhibited the mRNA and protein expression of COX-2, ADAMTS-5 and MMP-2, delayed the progression of OA	Ko et al. (2013)
PTH(1–34)	PLGA	SD rats	Sustained release and long-term effect	Eswaramoorthy et al. (2012)
Quercetin	PCL	In vitro rabbit synovial cells andin vivo wistar rats	Sustained release and biocompatible	Natarajan et al. (2011)
Brucine	Chitosan	Healthy SD rats	Suppressing TNF-α and IL-1β levels, and protect the damaged joint from degradation	Chen et al. (2012)
Celecoxib	Polyester amide (PEA)	ACLT + pMMx model	Sustained release and suppressed cartilage degeneration	Janssen et al. (2016)
S-(+)-ibuprofen	Poly(PLGAPEG)diMA	Ex vivo articular cartilage and joint capsule explants	Prolonger drug release and prostaglandin E2 inhibition	Bedouet et al. (2014)