DeCure for Secondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy
DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for secondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy — screening already-approved drugs against its 11-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleSecondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy maps to a 11-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for secondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 1 (DDAH1) — DDAH1 is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet pyridin-2-yldrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 7ULX · 1.707 Å · ligand N-(pyridin-2-yl)-L-asparagine (NQ6). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
Secondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy is a paraneoplastic disorder most often associated with pulmonary malignancies. When the condition is diagnosed, a search for the underlying pathology is imperative, as the disorder is usually linked to a primary pulmonary lesion with periostitis and paresthesias of the lower extremities. Bone scintigraphy is known to be useful for detecting hypertrophic osteoarthropathy, and one 2021 report described a lung cancer patient whose findings were consistent with hypertrophic osteoarthropathy on both bone scintigraphy and somatostatin receptor scintigraphy, the first such visualisation by the latter method.
A 2025 case report described a 48-year-old male with pain and swelling of the small joints of the hands and feet, along with low back pain, for 7–8 years. All fingers and toes had bulbous enlargement and clubbing, with no skin changes or motion restriction. Routine investigations, inflammatory markers, and immunological tests were normal. Radiographs showed periosteal changes in long bones and small bones of the hands and feet. After evaluation for secondary causes returned normal results, the patient was diagnosed with incomplete primary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy.
The patient was given a single infusion of 4 mg of zoledronic acid, along with etoricoxib once daily. At four weeks, the patient responded with significant reduction in pain, and etoricoxib was stopped. This is a single case, not a controlled trial, and the drug combination was not tested against any comparator. What remains missing is any randomised trial, larger case series, or prospective study that could confirm whether zoledronic acid or etoricoxib is effective for secondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy, and whether patient stratification by underlying cause would alter outcomes.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association · 1998 · 5 citations
Secondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy
AbstractWhenever hypertrophic osteoarthropathy is diagnosed, it is imperative to search for the underlying pathology. The disorder is usually associated with a primary pulmonary lesion and periostitis and paresthesias of the lower extremities. Recognizing and understanding the primary pathology is essential to the effective treatment of secondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy.
Hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy on bone scintigraphy and somatostatin receptor scintigraphy
AbstractHypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA) as a paraneoplastic disorder is most often associated with pulmonary malignancies 1 . Bone scintigraphy (BS) is known to be useful for detecting HOA 1,2 . Here, we present a lung cancer patient who demonstrated findings consistent with HOA on BS and somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of HOA visualized by SRS.
Journal of the Association of Physicians of India · 2025 · 0 citations
Primary Hypertrophic Osteoarthropathy—A Rare Cause of Joint Pain
AbstractA 48-year-old male displayed pain along with swelling of small joints of the hand and feet, along with low back pain, for the last 7-8 years. The joint pain was not associated with early morning stiffness or constitutional symptoms. On physical examination, all fingers and toes had bulbous enlargement and clubbing (Figs 1A and B). There were no skin changes and no motion restriction of any joint. Other systemic examination was normal. The routine investigations along with inflammatory markers and immunological tests were normal. A radiograph of bones showed periosteal changes in long bones as well as small bones of the hand and feet (Figs 1C to F) suggestive of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA). The patient was evaluated for secondary causes of HOA, and all his reports were within normal limits. The patient was diagnosed with incomplete primary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (PHOA) on the basis of clinical and radiological features. The patient was given an infusion of 4 mg of zoledronic acid, along with etoricoxib, once daily. The patient responded to treatment with significant reduction in pain at 4 weeks and etoricoxib was stopped.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
