An achy knee or hip joint’s thin or nonexistent cartilage growing back sounds like something a person facing joint-replacement surgery might daydream about.
But researchers led by Stanford University say they have developed a new treatment that could make such a thing possible.
The treatment targets a protein linked to aging. It restored lost knee cartilage in older mice and helped prevent arthritis from developing after serious joint injuries.
In other tests, human cartilage samples taken during knee replacement surgeries showed similar signs of regeneration when given the treatment.
Here’s how it works: 15-PGDH is a “gerozyme,” [JERR-uh-zime] a type of protein that becomes more prevalent with age and contributes to weakening of tissue function throughout the body. The treatment merely blocks the protein.
In past studies, when scientists blocked the protein, older animals gained muscle mass and endurance. When it was artificially increased in young mice, their muscles became weaker and smaller.
Current treatments for osteoarthritis, which slowly breaks down joint cartilage, focus on mitigation and from there, surgery. No medicine slows or stops osteoarthritis.
The researchers say their findings could make it possible to repair damaged knees, ankles, hips and other joints with an injection or an oral medication.
And that would be great news for at least 33 million Americans who find themselves with swollen, painful joints, unable to take the stairs or to stand after sitting without a loud groan.
When it comes to damaged cartilage, most of us would likely welcome repair over replacement.