2023-04-25 11:50:15
Scientists from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (North Carolina, USA) report that they have developed a promising injectable cell therapy to treat the gonarthrosis, or osteoarthritis of the knee. In their study, published on April 21, 2023 in the journal Science Advances (Source 1), they reporta reduction in inflammation and even ofregeneration of articular cartilage.
“Initially, we studied what goes wrong in OA joints, compared these processes to functional environments, and used this information to develop a cellular treatment through immunotherapy.”, detailed Johanna Bolander, first author of the study, in a press release (Source 2).
An unfavorable osteoarthritis environment
Because where mechanisms are put in place to repair an injury in a healthy joint, these are not present in the arthritic joint. Result : “Over time, the inflammation worsens, leading to breakdown of the cartilage that lines the articular bones and chronic inflammation of the surrounding tissues. For patients, it causes severe pain, swelling, and often limits daily activities”, detailed Dr. Gary Poehling, orthopedic surgeon and co-author of the study.
The team isolated cells from the joint fluid of osteoarthritis patients. Once separated from the fluid in which they evolve, these cells have regained their ability to transform themselves in order to repair damaged tissues. Conversely, putting joint fluid back in contact with the cells prevented them from doing their repair work well, suggesting that the osteoarthritis environment is to blame.
The researchers therefore set out to overcoming the inflammatory osteoarthritis environment so deleterious, by developing a cell therapy called “immunomodulatoire”. Injected intra-articularly, this has reduced local inflammation, but also, by acting on the cells of the synovial fluid, leading to the regeneration of tissues, and in this case cartilage. “It is really a dynamic communication between these two cell populations (the immune cells and the cells of the synovial fluid, Editor’s note) which is crucial for the effectiveness of the treatment.”, summarized Dr. Anthony Atala, who led the study.
Good preclinical results
This new immunotherapy has been successfully tested in a preclinical trial, with nine people with osteoarthritis of the knee. The effectiveness of this therapy was assessed both by pain and quality of life ratings from the patients, and by MRI scans performed before and following the injection. Participants reported a reduction in pain,an improvement in their quality of life, and their ability to participate in sports and recreational activities. As for the MRIs carried out approximately one year following the injection, they confirmed cartilage regeneration.
Clinical studies should confirm these results with a larger sample of patients before possible marketing.
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