To recover and improve the quality of life of patients with osteoarthritis (arthrosis) – one of the most common forms of arthritis – Chinese scientists have developed a lubricant for the region located between the bones of the knee or other regions of the body. Still in the pre-clinical testing phase, the substance is an imitation of a natural version of the fluid found in this area, called synovial fluid, and should allow the damaged joints to repair themselves. The product has already been successfully evaluated in rodents.
Osteoarthritis is the result of wear and tear on the joints and tends to increase as people get older. The condition is, directly, associated with damage to the tissue that covers the ends of the bones, the cartilage. As a result, it is as if the bones scrape against each other.
Today, there are some techniques available for the improvement of the condition, including therapies that involve the application of stem cells. However, researcher Chuanbin Mao, one of the authors of the study published in the scientific journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, explains that these methods are not as efficient in solving the problem as they should be.
How does the lubricating potential work?
To search for an ideal material, the researchers focused on synovial fluid. It is transparent and viscous and is inside the joint cavities. In its composition, there is a molecule called the lubrication complex, composed of a hyaluronic acid structure that contains some subunits, such as lubricin, and others that are lipids.
In theory, the potential lubricant carries this natural molecule, made synthetically. According to the authors of the study, when applied to pieces of human cartilage, this substance reduced friction, at least in laboratory tests.
In addition, the scientists injected the substance into mice with early arthritis in their leg joints. After eight weeks, the rodents’ joints appeared almost normal, from the disease classification parameters. We found out that lubrication can help in tissue regeneration – this is something new,” added Mao.
Now, the research team will test the artificial lubricant on larger animals with joints more similar to human ones. If the effectiveness continues to be demonstrated, it is likely that studies with the therapy will be initiated directly in humans.
