CSA astronaut David Saint-Jacques works on an experiment that could lead to new treatments for post-traumatic osteoarthritis. The research studies how spaceflight affects our bones and joints, hoping to find ways to combat this debilitating condition. : Image courtesy of NASA
A new study, published by Frontiers in Space, reveals promising results from an experiment on the International Space Station (ISS) for treating and preventing post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). This condition affects roughly one-fifth of the 650 million people worldwide with osteoarthritis.
Using a human tissue chip model on the International Space Station, the ISS researchers observed accelerated disease progression and identified promising effects of dexamethasone and IGF-1 on catabolic changes. This model creates a miniature joint environment using human cartilage, bone, and synovial tissue.
Alan Grodzinsky, a biological engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), led the study. He explained in a press release its significance in Upward, the ISS National Lab’s official magazine: “This opens up new possibilities for testing drugs and interventions for osteoarthritis and other joint disorders. It could also aid in developing preventative treatments.”
Microgravity accelerates disease progression
The microgravity environment of the ISS provided a unique opportunity for studying PTOA. As the researchers noted in the Frontiers in Space article, “The space environment was essential to the experiment’s success, as it appeared to simulate osteoarthritis characteristics quicker than similar experiments on Earth, with past research demonstrating accelerated bone loss in microgravity.” This accelerated disease progression allowed for a faster assessment of potential therapies. In particular, the combination of the steroid dexamethasone and IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1) showed promise in counteracting some of the notable degenerative changes observed in the tissue chip model.
The study found a pronounced increase in inflammation and cartilage breakdown in the joint models, both in space and on Earth. But here’s the promising part: treating these mini-joints with a mix of dexamethasone and IGF-1 seemed to put the brakes on some of that damage. According to the MIT team, these early results point towards microgravity research being a potential game-changer for finding novel ways to treat PTOA and other conditions that affect bones and joints.
Hope for new treatments
Earlier studies have shown that bone loss occurs more rapidly in microgravity. Similarly, the ISS study found that the microgravity environment, known to accelerate certain biological processes like bone loss, allowed researchers to observe osteoarthritis-like changes more rapidly than in Earth-based experiments.
There are currently no FDA-approved drugs to treat or prevent osteoarthritis and related conditions.
The tissue chip model provides researchers with a controlled environment to study joint diseases and develop targeted treatments. This could lead to more effective therapies for osteoarthritis and similar conditions.
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