‘Jelly’ that could renew damaged knee joints
AN INJeCtION of jelly could help treat worn-out joints. scientists hope the jab, using jelly found in donated umbilical cords, will stimulate the growth of cushioning cartilage once injected into the knees of patients with osteoarthritis.
tests on animals suggest the jelly — called Wharton’s jelly — can potentially reverse damage to joints caused by the condition. A trial of 12 patients will test its effect in humans.
Around nine million people in the UK have osteoarthritis, where cartilage breaks down, meaning bones rub together, causing inflammation and pain. the main cause is ageing, as joints suffer wear and tear. Other risk factors include being overweight, family history and sports injuries.
Patients often need anti-inflammatory painkillers, but these can damage the stomach if used for long periods. steroid injections can reduce the inflammation, too — here the risk is cortisone flare, where the injected steroid (cortisone) crystallises inside the joint and triggers more inflammation.
Around 100,000 people a year in the UK need knee replacement surgery, but one in five patients report little improvement.
scientists have been investigating whether stem cells could reverse joint damage. stem cells are master cells that can turn into any type of specialist cell such as skin, muscle, nerve or cartilage.
Most of the studies on osteoarthritis have focused on stem cells harvested from either a donor, or from the patient’s own bone marrow, taken from their hips using a needle under local anaesthetic.
however, using donated bone marrow means the stem cells may be rejected by the recipient’s immune system, while harvesting the patient’s own supply is timeconsuming and uncomfortable.
Jelly from umbilical cords — that would otherwise be scrapped after birth — is not only rich in stem cells but research shows these immature cells are unlikely to be rejected.
Inside the umbilical cord, Wharton’s jelly protects delicate blood vessels from damage and releases proteins to help tissue growth.
In rats, injections of the jelly could halt damage to cartilage by blocking the effects of enzymes that degrade it when a joint becomes arthritic, according to research in the Macedonian Journal of Medical sciences last year.
For the new trial, running in U.s. hospitals, Wharton’s jelly will be injected into the knees of patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis. Over 12 months, they will have regular MrI scans of the treated knees and pain assessments to see if the jelly stops the cartilage wearing and eases discomfort.
If the results are positive, researchers plan to set up a larger trial which could lead to it being used on millions. A spokesperson from the charity Versus Arthritis said: ‘Using Wharton’s jelly could prove helpful in the management and treatment of osteoarthritis.’
But Professor Philip Conaghan, an expert in musculoskeletal medicine based at the University of Leeds, says previous attempts at using stem cells had shown mixed results, partly because of difficulties keeping the transplanted cells inside the joint.
‘they can be absorbed into circulation after injection,’ he says. ‘so we don’t know if this approach will be beneficial in humans.’