A new injectable cell therapy could help cure osteoarthritis patients because it reduces inflammation and regenerates cartilage.
- Researchers have developed a cell therapy that could cure osteoarthritis.
- This reduces joint inflammation and regenerates cartilage.
- Further work is needed to confirm the effectiveness of the treatment.
According National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), in France, nearly 10 million people suffer from osteoarthritis. This pathology can be defined as the destruction of the cartilage of one or more joints, which is manifested by severe pain. Thus, osteoarthritis can be a debilitating disease, especially since there is currently no curative treatment for this pathology. The only solutions offered to patients can relieve pain and therefore improve their daily living conditions.
Understanding the origin of osteoarthritis to better treat it
But researchers have just found an interesting lead that could ultimately lead to the development of a treatment to cure osteoarthritis. Their work has been published in the scientific journal Science Advances. “Without a better understanding of what causes and allows the progression of osteoarthritis, [il est difficile de développer] effective treatmentexplains Johanna Bolander, one of the researchers behind the study, in a communicated. Initially, we studied [les problèmes] joints affected by osteoarthritis, (…) and we used this information to develop a cellular treatment by immunotherapy.“The principle of immunotherapy is to target the patient’s immune cells to defend themselves against the pathogen.
In a person with osteoarthritis, when there is a traumatic injury, it leads to a inflammation of the synovial membrane (the tissue that covers the inner surface of the joint and which, in a person who is not sick, protects it) and cartilage damage. “Over time, the inflammation worsens, leading to breakdown of the cartilage lining the joint bones and chronic inflammation of the surrounding tissues. says Gary Poehling, another of the researchers. For patients, this causes severe pain, swelling, and often limits daily activities.“
A therapy that combines two types of cells
During their study, the scientists wanted to understand what prevented the healing process in patients who suffered from osteoarthritis. To do this, they isolated cells from the joint fluid of people who suffered from osteoarthritis and observed that when separated from this joint fluid, they could support the processes necessary for functional tissue repair. In contrast, when the scientists added joint fluid, the cells’ abilities were altered. In other words, it is the liquid that causes the inflammation and not the cells.
Scientists therefore used this discovery to develop a new injectable cell therapy that combines two types of cells: those that target and reduce inflammation and those that regenerate cartilage. “It is really the dynamic communication between these two cell populations that is crucial for the effectiveness of the treatment.“, specifies Anthony Atala, one of the authors of the study. The first results are convincing: the scientists observed that this therapy could reduce inflammation and heal cartilage lesions in the synovial membrane.
Other trials must be carried out to confirm this discovery which, in the long term, could lead to a first treatment against osteoarthritis. A hope for all those affected. According Inserm65% of people over 65 suffer from this disease.
