Researchers From The Technion And The Hebrew University Are Developing A Method For Treating Osteoarthritis (Degenerative Cartilage Disease) By Injecting Phospho-Lipids Nano-Particles Into The Hip Joint

The treatment could prevent surgery and ease patient’s pain; this approach will be presented next week at a joint workshop on tribology for Israeli and Chinese researchers which will take place at the Technion

Researchers from the Technion and the Hebrew University are developing a method to decrease friction and degeneration of human cartilage by injecting nano-particles (liposomes) from phoso-lipids inside the osteoarthritis affected joint (a disease characterized by cartilage degeneration), thus preventing surgery and easing the pain of those suffering from osteoarthritis. The method will be presented next week at a joint workshop for Israeli and Chinese researchers on the topic of tribology, which will take place at the Technion.

“Cartilage thickness is about two millimeters,” explains Prof. Izhak Etsion of the Technion’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, who is working on the project together with Prof. Chezi Bernholz of the Hebrew University. “This is absorbent material that separates the joint bones and enables movement between them with very little friction. For this purpose, the joint contains a special lubricating material (synovial fluid) whose function it is to prevent cartilage degeneration. When the synovial fluid is not healthy, the cartilage degenerates and this can create direct contact between bones, resulting in tremendous pain and limited movement. The problem can be solved by a surgery to implant an artificial joint. Prof. Bernholz and I are trying to develop a method for delaying or preventing surgery by reducing cartilage wear. Today, doctors inject into the sick joint hyaluronic acid that is supposed to improve cartilage lubrication. But there is no guarantee that this material really helps patients. Prof. Bernholz is developing liposomes which can be injected into the joint instead of hyaluronic acid. In my lab, I am testing their influence on reducing cartilage friction and degeneration.”

For this purpose, a special experimental system was set up in Prof. Etsion’s lab in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technion. A plug of cartilage on bone with a small diameter is inserted into this system and opposite it another plug of cartilage on bone with a larger diameter. The pair of cartilage plugs is submerged in a physiological fluid containing the nano-particles (nano-liposomes). The researchers exert stress on the cartilages and slide them one on top of the other in a manner which best simulates the actual sliding in a real human joint over a long time period.

When cartilage wear is created, tiny cartilage particles get into the fluid. The Technion researchers have succeeded in identifying and quantitatively measuring the weight of the worn cartilage particles found in the fluid. Thus it is possible to measure and compare the effectiveness of various kinds of liposomes to identify the best ones for preventing degeneration of joint cartilage. A patent has been registered and a start-up company, Moavius Medical, was established.

“In those suffering from this disease – the synovial fluid is inflamed,” adds Prof. Etsion. “We managed to test in the lab cartlilage wear with such inflamed synovial fluid and to compare the results with those obtained when liposomes or hyaluronic acid, as in the conventional treatment, are added to it. A sustential improvement was observed  with the liposomes resulting in a 40% decrease in the rate of cartilage wear compered to only 10% reduction when we added the hyaluronic acid to the inflamed fluid.”

The experimental results were published in the scientific journal “Wear - Elsevier”.