HOPE FOR ARTHRITIS PATIENTS
The discovery of a new molecule has raised hopes for a possible cure for
disease like arthritis. Kartogenin may help encourage damaged cartilage
regenerate and reverse debilitating conditions like arthritis.
During the study, 22,000 drug-like molecules were tested using a robotic screen, applying each one to bone marrow stem cells. When kartogenin was administered to mice with osteoarthritis-like symptoms, it prompted stem cells to change into cartilage cells. Researchers at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation in San Diego and Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, US, said, “This may ultimately lead to a stem-cell based therapy for osteoarthritis.”
Currently these is no cure for the condition, only anti-inflammatory painkillers to relieve symptoms, and in severe cases, costly joint replacements are available. Main symptoms of arthritis include pain, stiffness and restricted movement in the joints, and in the UK it affects more than nine million people alone while in India almost 15 per cent of the population suffers from this crippling disease.
A patent has already been filed, however more work is needed to exactly understand how the molecule works.
During the study, 22,000 drug-like molecules were tested using a robotic screen, applying each one to bone marrow stem cells. When kartogenin was administered to mice with osteoarthritis-like symptoms, it prompted stem cells to change into cartilage cells. Researchers at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation in San Diego and Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, US, said, “This may ultimately lead to a stem-cell based therapy for osteoarthritis.”
Currently these is no cure for the condition, only anti-inflammatory painkillers to relieve symptoms, and in severe cases, costly joint replacements are available. Main symptoms of arthritis include pain, stiffness and restricted movement in the joints, and in the UK it affects more than nine million people alone while in India almost 15 per cent of the population suffers from this crippling disease.
A patent has already been filed, however more work is needed to exactly understand how the molecule works.
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