This is an important development! So seldom do we hear anything about osteoarthritis, yet it affects so many people.
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A potential osteoarthritis treatment has been developed by MIT engineers in the form of nanocarriers that can administer drugs directly into cartilage.
Caused by low bone mass due to a cartilage breakdown, Osteoarthritis is a disease that inflicts severe joint pain, affecting more than 20 million people in the United States. Certain drug treatments can help alleviate the pain, but MIT researchers state that there are currently no treatments that can reverse or slow the cartilage breakdown.
By developing nanocarriers that can deliver drugs directly into the cartilage, MIT engineers hope that this advancement will improve the treatment options for osteoarthritis and potentially heal damaged tissue.
Conducting tests on the knee joints of rats, the researchers found that the cartilage in injured joints treated with a nanoparticle-drug combination showed signs of reduction in inflammation and damage.
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MIT Engineers Have Developed a Nanocarrier That Delivers Drugs Directly into Cartilage
