Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, affects the knees, hips, spine and hands
Chinese scientists claimed to have developed an
advanced lubricating material that could help treat osteoarthritis, a common
form of arthritis in the early stages and slow its progression.
A new material developed by the team can “precisely
target damaged cartilage areas and provide lubrication protection”, a press
release from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said last Wednesday.
The product is the result of a study co-led by
researchers Li Jiusheng and Lu Hengyi of the CAS Shanghai Advanced Research
Institute along with spine surgery and orthopaedics clinician Wang Yunjia at
the Xiangya government hospital in Changsha.
Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis,
affects the knees, hips, spine and hands. It is a degenerative joint disease in
which the affected tissues break down over time causing pain, swelling and
stiffness that often reduce mobility.
Reduced lubrication of cartilage – the tissue that
covers the ends where two bones meet to form a joint – is thought to be a major
factor in triggering osteoarthritis.
Therefore, scientists and clinicians around the world
have been searching for biological lubricants that may slow the progression of
the disease.
The Chinese team published the results in the
peer-reviewed journal Advanced Materials on August 18, the Hong Kong-based
South China Morning Post reported on Monday.
The newly developed material consists of “hydrogel
microspheres”, tiny, hollow and round particles that are commonly used as
injectable biomaterials for the repair of injured tissues, including cartilage,
muscle and bone.
These microspheres are made of a biomaterial called
gelatin methacrylate – produced from a natural protein derived from collagen –
and a well-known polymer composed of very large molecules, called poly
(sulfobetaine methacrylate) or PSBMA.
The former allows cells to adhere, proliferate and
mature within the constructs, while the latter exerts a strong hydration
capacity, according to the study paper prepared by the scientists.
To improve the material’s function in treating osteoarthritis,
the researchers also developed an antibody that would target injured cartilage
sites and anchor it to the microspheres, it said.
An antibody is a large protein used by the immune
system to identify and neutralise disease-causing antigens.
The team said that compared to existing bio-lubricants
for treating arthritis, which “lack precise targeting for small inflammatory
lesions”, the treatment they have discovered can more precisely target damaged
tissue.
When injected into rats with early osteoarthritis, the
new biomaterial significantly slowed disease progression and reduced symptoms,
according to the study paper.
This is particularly meaningful for this condition
because the damage to the soft tissues in the joint is chronic and widely
recognised as irreversible, so early protection can prevent more damaging wear
and tear.
The material also performed well in terms of
lubrication. It reduced the average coefficient of friction – or the ratio of
the force of friction between two bodies – by more than half compared to
standard saline infusions shown to have therapeutic effect for osteoarthritis
sufferers.
Compared to conventional bio-lubricants, the average
friction coefficient was lowered by more than a third.
The discovery represents “a promising, convenient
technique for treating osteoarthritis, particularly for slowing the early-stage
osteoarthritis progression”, the paper said.
According to the latest available figures from the
World Health Organisation, (WHO) about 528 million people worldwide were living
with osteoarthritis in 2019, an increase of 113 per cent since 1990.
Many factors can contribute to the development of the
disease, including a history of joint injury or overuse, as well as ageing and
being overweight.
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