Tier 2 — strong

Results from a randomized clinical trial evaluating the senolytic fisetin for treating knee osteoarthritis

Scott Tashman, Marc Philippon, Grant Dornan, Johnny Huard
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 2025 33 (Supplement), S456; OARSI 2025 abstract 659

Bibliography

DOI
10.1016/j.joca.2025.02.667
Trial registry
View on ClinicalTrials.gov Registered trial — results not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Funding
Not specified in the published OARSI 2025 abstract.
Competing interests
Not specified in the published OARSI 2025 abstract.

Study snapshot

DesignPhase I/II randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial reported in an April 2025 OARSI meeting abstract.
ModelAdults age 40–80 with symptomatic radiographically confirmed knee osteoarthritis, Kellgren-Lawrence grades II–IV.
Sample74 randomized in published abstract (34 fisetin, 40 placebo). Trial registry records actual enrollment of 75; the one-person discrepancy is unresolved and must not be described as a missing treatment-arm participant.
InterventionOral fisetin 20 mg/kg/day or matched placebo on two consecutive days per cycle, with 28 days off; three treatment cycles.
DurationThree treatment cycles, with outcomes monitored through 12 months; primary follow-up evaluations at 6 and 12 months.
EndpointsMRI T2 cartilage composition in four central tibiofemoral subregions; Treatment-emergent adverse events over 12 months; Knee pain and patient-reported WOMAC/IKDC/SF-12 outcomes; Six-minute walk, 40-meter walk, timed-up-and-go; Knee flexion/extension strength, gait kinematics

What the study showed, in plain terms

A published April 2025 OARSI meeting abstract reports results of the randomized fisetin-versus-placebo knee osteoarthritis trial that is also indexed in Biohack Blueprint as NCT04210986 registry results. Its 74 reported randomized participants (34 fisetin, 40 placebo) differ slightly from the trial registry's 75 actual enrollment; these are two reports of one trial, not independent studies.

No significant between-group benefit was found for MRI cartilage measures, pain, patient-reported outcomes, physical function, strength or gait with three experimental fisetin cycles. The abstract reports 185 adverse events overall, mostly minor, and four serious adverse events involving surgeries unrelated to treatment, two per group.

Key findings

Published meeting abstract: 74 randomized, fisetin n=34 and placebo n=40; the registry's 75 actual enrollment is a discrepant source denominator, not an independently confirmed extra randomization.

The investigational schedule used three cycles of 20 mg/kg/day for two consecutive days followed by 28 days off; groups were evaluated for up to 12 months.

No significant group differences were reported for MRI T2 cartilage, pain, patient-reported scores, six-minute walk, 40-m walk, timed-up-and-go, knee strength or gait measures (reported p>0.05).

The conference abstract reported 185 adverse events overall, most minor and resolving without intervention; four serious adverse events were unrelated surgeries (two fisetin, two placebo), with no significant between-group adverse-event incidence difference (p>0.5).

What this study can and cannot tell us

Conference meeting abstract only, not a full clinical paper, with limited detailed endpoint-level estimates, arm-specific event tables and longer-term safety data.

The published abstract reports 74 randomized (34/40), whereas the linked ClinicalTrials.gov result record lists 75 actual enrollment. Do not invent the unaccounted participant's assignment or combine denominators as if verified.

This is the same NCT04210986 trial as the separate registry results record, not a second independent study. Disease-specific null clinical outcomes do not rule out other interventions, tissue effects or schedules, and they do not prove or disprove systemic human senolysis.

Related papers in the corpus

Tier 2
Senolytic Drugs Attenuate Osteoarthritis-Related Articular Cartilage Degeneration: A Clinical Trial (NCT04210986)
Evans TA (Steadman Philippon Research Institute) et al. · ClinicalTrials.gov (trial registry record with posted results — not yet published as a peer-reviewed journal article) · 2024

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Dr. Khaled Mahmoud, MBBChCritical Care Medicine, Longevity Science & Editorial Direction Dr. Amr Yasser, PhDCardiometabolic, Musculoskeletal, Gut & Bioavailability Dr. Abdulla Mostafa, PhDCellular Senescence, Neurological, Mitochondrial & Brain-Ageing Biology