STEM CELL research offers hope for the future of osteoarthritis patients and may prevent the need for joint replacement surgery in younger patients, according to experts.
Prof Frank Barry, director of Remedi (Regenerative Medicine Institute) at the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway, explained that the "only truly successful treatment" for osteoarthritis at the moment was joint replacement therapy which was a major surgical procedure.
"We are involved in research to develop stem cell therapy using adult stem cells for the treatment of diseases of the joint, in particular osteoarthritis.
"We hope in the next few years that an injection of stem cells into the affected joint will become routine therapy when patients go to see their orthopaedic consultant," he said.
Prof Barry will speak at a public forum organised by Remedi at the G Hotel in Galway this evening on the topic of Osteoarthritis - current treatments and future therapies.
He said his research team had already started animal studies with very positive results and he hoped the approach could be tested on humans in the next couple of years.
Often called "wear and tear arthritis", osteoarthritis is one of most common forms of arthritis.
It is caused by a breakdown of cartilage (the part of the joint that cushions the end of the bones) which causes the bones to rub against each other, resulting in pain and loss of movement.
"We are trying to figure out how to deliver stem cells into the joint affected by osteoarthritis in such as way as to stimulate a repair response," Prof Barry said.
"The patient will still have osteoarthritis but it will be much less severe."
Orthopaedic consultant Mr Bill Curtin said osteoarthritis was a major clinical problem that generally affected the elderly, but was affecting an ever increasing number of young people, mainly through sports injuries.
He attributed this to the rise in involvement in organised sport.
Mr Curtin said the modern era of joint replacement was born in the 1960s with the use of cement implants and metal and plastic bearings, which still work very well.
However, wear of the bearings was a problem and advances have been made in terms of the use of new materials in joint replacements such as ceramic and metal instead of plastic.
He said that joint replacement surgery should be considered for patients with severe pain and disability where medical treatment, ie medication, weight loss etc, had failed and where the benefits would be considerable.
Mr Curtin, who is involved in the stem cell research at Remedi, agreed that there was great hope for the development of a therapy for osteoarthritis patients, but he did not see this as totally taking the place of joint replacement surgery.
"For somebody who is 70 or 80 years old and whose joint is now completely worn, stem cells cannot be a panacea," he said.
"We can't hope to turn back time and grow a new joint. For these people, joint replacement works very well for the rest of their life.
"However, if we can identify patients with a family history of arthritis at an early stage before it becomes a problem, we could provide a stem cell treatment regime that would repair the joint, prevent the development of clinical arthritis and stop the need for a replacement."
