A new gel promises to bind strongly to cartilage to allow new cells to grow to repair joints.
- The new hydrogel has the characteristic of also binding strongly to the cartilage and being strong to maintain its shape for the months necessary for the growth of new cartilage.
- Its application is quite simple since it requires a small operation to make a small hole to be able to insert it.
- Researchers will soon test this gel on humans after showing its effectiveness on pigs.
Treatment of cartilage damage is difficult because the tissue does not heal well or sometimes not at all in adults. It is possible to try to repair the cartilage by implanting cartilage cells to regenerate the damaged areas but this poses many problems, such as the difficulty of firmly fixing the cells in the damaged area. Chinese researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University may have found the solution through the development of a special gel. They presented their results on August 25 in the journal Science Advances.
Human trials soon to be launched
The new hydrogel has the characteristic of also binding strongly to the cartilage and being strong to maintain its shape for the months necessary for the growth of new cartilage. Its application is quite simple since it requires a small operation to make a small hole to be able to insert it. It is much less restrictive than the patch method, one of the most used, which consists of applying a patch to maintain the cells. It involves open surgery after which patients take a long time to recover and cannot put weight on the joint for an extended period of time.
The main property of the gel is that it does not harden until exposed to ultraviolet light for about 10 seconds, and does so quickly. The researchers carried out tests on pigs and showed that the cartilage defects were well healed six months after the application of the gel loaded with cartilage cells. When this is applied without these cells, the healing becomes weak. “We will soon begin human trials”, promises Qiuning Lin, lead author of the study.
Other studies to use the gel at the level of the meniscus
The study looked at treating damaged articular cartilage, which is the cartilage that covers the ends of bones. Many knee injuries result in damage to the meniscus, the cartilage that sits between the bones. The researchers believe that for this area, further animal studies are needed.
Application of the gel could further be used for skin tissue engineering. To test it, a clinical trial is already underway. “Promising results have been obtained”, assures Qiuning Lin.
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