Cartilage News and Research

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Cartilage is a stiff yet flexible connective tissue found in many areas in the bodies of humans and other animals, including the joints between bones, the rib cage, the ear, the nose, the elbow, the knee, the ankle, the bronchial tubes and the intervertebral discs.

A new marker for osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common, crippling age-related disease characterized by the gradual destruction of cartilage cushioning the joints.

5 Aug 2004

New clinical study to determine how people with rheumatoid arthritis evaluate improvements in disease symptoms

A new clinical study to determine how people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) evaluate improvements in disease symptoms will be carried out by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), part of the Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health.

5 Aug 2004

Researchers study whether people’s genetic makeup could make them more likely to develop osteoarthritis of the knee and hip

Researchers at The University of Nottingham are studying whether people’s genetic makeup could make them more likely to develop osteoarthritis of the knee and hip — the most common medical condition to affect the joints.

3 Aug 2004

Health web sites providing bogus information to peddle alternative medicinal treatments

Researchers from the University of Exeter in England have found that cancer patients are being mislead by many popular health web sites providing bogus information to peddle alternative medicinal treatments.

3 Aug 2004

Joint inflammation

Members of the baby boomer generation are beginning to reach their 50s and 60s and seniors are living longer than ever, causing a large influx of older men and women in our society.

2 Aug 2004

Key signal in mice that tells stem cells to commit to becoming fat cells

The Hopkins team discovered that adding a single protein, dubbed BMP4, induced mouse stem cells to become fat cells. A very similar signal is likely to be involved in humans, too, say the scientists.

21 Jun 2004

Results from study of Rituxan in rheumatoid arthritis show promise

Genentech, Inc., Biogen Idec and Roche have announced that the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a Phase IIa study showing that two doses of Rituxan® (Rituximab), administered two weeks apart, improved symptoms in patients with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for up to 48 weeks when combined with methotrexate (MTX), compared to MTX alone.

16 Jun 2004

Australia's CSIRO to exhibit major display at the world's largest biotechnology conference

CSIRO is mounting a major display of technologies this week at BIO 2004, the world's largest biotechnology conference, being held in San Francisco, USA, from 6-9 June.

7 Jun 2004

Vitamin C can increase the severity of spontaneous knee osteoarthritis

High doses of vitamin C increase the severity of spontaneous knee osteoarthritis in an animal model of the disease, according to a new study by Duke University Medical Center researchers.

5 Jun 2004

Bone repair using breakthrough material

A breakthrough in polymer development means that soon there may be a radical new treatment for people with broken bones - a special kind of material that can 'glue' the bone back together and support it while it heals. The polmer material is designed to break down as the bone regrows leaving only natural tissue.

20 May 2004

Organic superglues, disease treatments and better food flavourings

Organic superglues, disease treatments and better food flavourings: these are some of the projects where synthetic organic chemist Carol Taylor employs her skills.

5 May 2004

Funding for new biomaterials for spinal disc repair and regeneration

Orthonics, Inc., an Atlanta start-up company developing new biomaterials for spinal disc repair and regeneration, has received initial funding from Viscogliosi Brothers, LLC, a New York-based closely held venture capital/private equity and merchant banking firm focused on the musculoskeletal/orthopedics industry. Terms of the funding were not disclosed.

30 Apr 2004

The April 2004 issue of Otolaryngology focuses on head and neck surgery

The efficacy of a new cancer-fighting virus is tested in the study, “Treatment of Solid Sarcomas in Immunocompetent Mice with Novel Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Viruses.” A team of multi-disciplinary Japanese researchers found that a weakened version of herpes simplex virus (HSV) effectively eradicated neck and flank tumors in mice.

23 Apr 2004

Menthol in topical creams relieves Osteoarthritis pain

A new study extends previous research and examines the effects of a topical cream consisting of cetylated fatty acids, along with the addition of menthol, on pain and functional performance in patients with knee osteoarthritis over the course of one week.

19 Apr 2004

Stem cell personal space determines their future

Johns Hopkins scientists report that restricting the shape and personal space of human stem cells from bone marrow is more important than any known molecular signal in determining the cell type they become.

16 Apr 2004

Process to minimize the side effect of painful arthritis

The University of Missouri Friday announced the discovery of a process to minimize the side effect of painful arthritis that develop after knee surgeries. The procedure will be tested in human clinical trials this summer if the process is approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the Columbia, Mo-based school said.

12 Apr 2004

Surgeons suggests that the development of osteoarthritis in the knee following an injury may be both predictable and preventable

A new theory of joint function presented in a symposium at the 71st annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons suggests that the development of osteoarthritis in the knee following an injury may be both predictable and preventable.

5 Apr 2004

Discovery of gender difference in cartilage cells may help spinal disc repair

When biologist Barbara Boyan discovered science’s first proof of biochemical differences between male and female cartilage cells, she began to question the approaches she and other researchers were taking to study cells. Was their thinking biologically relevant?

30 Mar 2004

Emerging technologies in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine analysis

Pathbreaking developments in tissue engineering and regenerative therapies are facilitating the design and growth of new organs in labs using biopolymer scaffolds and matrices. Analysis of potential markets for tissue engineering reveals that basic problems such as vascularity must be solved before such implants can gain acceptance as standard treatment methods.

30 Mar 2004

Protein Hydrogels Can be Genetically Engineered to Promote

Johns Hopkins University researchers have created a new class of artificial proteins that can assemble themselves into a gel and encourage the growth of selected cell types. This biomaterial, which can be tailored to send different biological signals to cells, is expected to help scientists who are developing new ways to repair injured or diseased body parts.

29 Mar 2004