Scientists Think Protein in Knee Joint May Ease Arthritis Knee Pain
Scientists Think Protein in Knee Joint May Ease Arthritis Knee Pain
In healthy knees, synovial fluid is the lubricant that allows the joint to glide. In an unhealthy arthritic knee there are decreased amounts of synovial fluid. In the past few years pharmaceutical companies have come out with rooster comb injections (aka gel injections, hyalgan injections, hyaluronic acid injections) to try and replicate the effects of synovial fluid. However, research indicates that the active protein or molecule in those injections only lasts for a few days in the knee joint before it is absorbed into the bloodstream.
That is why Saleem Abubacker, a 23 year old PHD student at the University of Calgary in Canada and his colleagues have been researching a different molecule then the one found in current knee injections. Abubacker and his team are studying the effects of lubricin, a protein found in synovial fluid and on the surface of the knee joint. They are injecting lubricin in unused cow joints from butcher shops and putting them in a machine that pushes them and twists them like human knee joints. Preliminary studies suggest that lubricin lasts for longer periods of time in the knee joint (28 days) compared to the current molecule used for injections on the market, and it has shown to slow down the breakdown of cartilage. They are also finding that the molecule forms building blocks, so as it grows it makes a difference in lubricating the knee. Abubacker thinks that some patients with arthritis knee pain may have more of the single molecule then the long chain and that by restoring that balance of lubricin they may have less arthritis knee pain.
Obviously, more advanced studies need to be completed with lubricin, especially on human knee joints, but who knows this may be the next type of knee injection in the future.
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Dr. Alexandra K. Schnee, D.C.- Non-Surgical, Painless, Cold Laser Knee TreatmentDoctor for the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas Metroplex- “ Dr. Schnee’s Cold Laser Knee Program™ Has Been Helping Knee Pain Sufferers With Knee Pain Relief Without Knee Injections or Surgery Since 2001.”
Jamie Komarnicki. U of C Scientists Make Strides Toward Easing Arthritis Knee Pain. Calgary Herald.
Scientists Think Protein in Knee Joint May Ease Arthritis Knee Pain
Scientists are studying protein in knee joint in hopes to ease arthritis knee pain in the future. Dallas-Fort Worth knee pain blog by Dr. Alexandra Schnee, D.C.
