 |
|
 FIGHT AGAINST ARTHRITIS
University of Twente
Budget: € 8.000.000
|
| |
Pain, no effect
|
Osteoarthritis or arthritis is a disorder that afflicts more than one million Dutch people. They are mainly over the age of 60, but there are also about 25,000 younger osteoarthritis patients between the ages of 25 and 45. In osteoarthritis, the ends of the bones in a joint that are covered with a layer of cartilage, become soft, start to fray and slowly disappear. Therefore, the joint becomes stiff and painful. Ultimately the pain becomes so intolerable that the placement of a metal joint implant is the only solution. The patient often receives many pain killers to bridge the time before the implant is placed.
As an alternative for the placement by implants, treatments with medicines to repair the cartilage are being tested. Unfortunately, they often cause unpleasant side effects. To prevent this, an attempt is being made to inject these medicines directly into the affected knee or hip joint so that they only have a local effect. However, the medicine is rapidly transported away from the joint via the blood vessels, still resulting in hardly any effect on the cartilage. |
| |
|
© BMM / Rogier Trompert Medical Art
|
| Top |
| |
‘Linking’ for recovery
|
|
Our goal is to develop a treatment to curb arthritis as early as possible and to recover cartilage using new synthetic materials, also called biomaterials. We will try to achieve this in two ways.
With the first method, a synthetic material will be developed that is liquefied outside the body but forms a gel in the joint after injection. This gel will contain substances on the surface that can adhere to the cartilage. By simultaneously including slow-release medicines in the synthetic material, the cartilage will be repaired in a targeted way.
A second method is to make extremely small synthetic spheres that are loaded with medicines. These balls will be injected into the damaged joint and remain in place there. Since they can deliver medicines for an extended period of time, the continued damage of cartilage will be inhibited.
|
| Top |
| |
Partners
|
|
The following companies and institutes work together to make a success of OAcontrol:
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
| Top |
| |
Publications
|
- de Grauw JC, Donabédian M, van de Lest CH, Perona G, Robert C, Lepage O, Martin-Rosset W, van Weeren PR. Assessment of synovial fluid biomarkers in healthy foals and in foals with tarsocrural osteochondrosis. Vet J. 2011 Dec;190(3):390-5. Abstract
- de Grauw JC, van de Lest CH, van Weeren PR. A targeted lipidomics approach to the study of eicosanoid release in synovial joints. Arthritis Res Ther. 2011 Jul 27;13(4):R123. Full paper
- de Grauw JC. Molecular monitoring of equine joint homeostasis. Vet Q. 2011 Jun;31(2):77-86. Abstract
- de Grauw JC, Heinola T, van Weeren R, Kiviranta I, Konttinen YT. Rapid release of high mobility group box protein-1 (HMGB-1) in transient arthritis. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2010 Mar-Apr;28(2):292-3. Epub 2010 May 14. No abstract available.
- van Weeren PR, de Grauw JC. Pain in osteoarthritis. Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract. 2010 Dec;26(3):619-42. Review. Abstract
- de Grauw JC, van de Lest CH, Brama PA, Rambags BP, van Weeren PR. In vivo effects of meloxicam on inflammatory mediators, MMP activity and cartilage biomarkers in equine joints with acute synovitis. Equine Vet J. 2009 Sep;41(7):693-9. Abstract
|
| |
Thesis
|
- Wennink JWH. Biodegradable Hydrogels by Physical and Enzymatic Crosslinking of Biomacromolecules. Thesis, University of Twente, 2013-03-27.
- Landman EBM. Molecular modulation of articular cartilage degradation. Thesis. University of Twente, 2013-03-15.
- Cabanas Danés J. Reversibly Tethering Growth Factors to Surfaces: Guiding Cell Function at the Cell-Material. Thesis, University of Twente, 2013-01-31.
- Ma B. Wnt Signaling in Cartilage Development and Degeneration. Thesis, University of Twente, 2012-09-12.
- de Grauw JC. Molecular monitoring of equine joint homeostasis. Thesis, Utrecht University, 2010-12-10.
|
| Top |