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Stem cell hope for arthritis sufferers

18 April 2008

Key facts
  • Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis - it's estimated that over eight million people in the UK are living with the condition.
  • Osteoarthritis is a 'wear and tear disease' which causes the cartilage at the end of your bones to get thinner and rougher. The bone beneath compensates by thickening and growing outwards.
  • Symptoms include stiff, painful joints that can be swollen. As the condition progresses, your joints will become misshapen and knobbly, and they can be unstable.
  • There is currently no cure for osteoarthritis. Treatment usually involves taking painkillers. Joint replacement surgery can be used to treat particularly painful joints.

This new research may be the key to slowing down the progression of the disease, reducing the need for joint replacements

Arthritis Research Campaign

Researchers have identified stem cells in human joint cartilage that could potentially be used to treat osteoarthritis.

According to scientists at Cardiff University, these stem cells can be turned into cartilage cells (chrondrocytes) in huge quantities. This may mean that limitations in cartilage transplants, in which healthy cartilage cells are collected and transplanted into a damaged joint, could be overcome.

However, despite recent media reports that heralded the identification of these stem cells as a breakthrough in the treatment of osteoarthritis, this research is currently only being considered to treat people with cartilage damage.

Professor Charlie Archer, lead researcher, told Bupa's health information team: "The identification of these stem cells does not mean we have found a new treatment for osteoarthritis. At the moment, the only application for this research is in treating young, active patients with defined cartilage defects."

Professor Archer continued: "Current cartilage transplants have limitations because only a small number of cartilage cells can be harvested from the patient, but now it's possible to generate billions of cartilage cells in a laboratory from a resident stem cell. These cells could be used to treat cartilage lesions that may develop into osteoarthritis."

He went on to stress: "At the moment, this is the only application we foresee for this treatment. There is the potential for it to treat larger cartilage defects, but this will not be explored until animal and human trials have been completed."

A spokesperson from Arthritis Research Campaign (arc) commented on the research: "At the moment this research is still in its early stages, and we're unsure how it will affect people with osteoarthritis. However, it does mean that more robust cartilage cells in larger quantities can be produced. This may make cartilage transplantations on large areas of joint damage, like those seen osteoarthritis, possible."

While arc acknowledge that this research doesn't mean a new treatment for osteoarthritis has been discovered, they say: "This research has the potential to be significant if the findings in the laboratory can be translated to patients. It may be the key to slowing down the progression of the disease, reducing the need for joint replacements."

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