Goodbye joint replacements? Stanford scientists found a way to regrow cartilage and stop arthritis

Scientists have found a surprising way to regrow damaged knee cartilage by blocking a protein that becomes more abundant with age. In old mice, the treatment restored naturally lost cartilage and also helped prevent osteoarthritis after ACL-like knee injuries, while human cartilage taken from knee replacement patients began producing new, functional joint cartilage after exposure to the same inhibitor. Goodbye joint replacements? Stanford scientists found a way to regrow cartilage and stop arthritis.

Stanford scientists found a way to regrow cartilage and stop arthritis Scientists have found a way to rejuvenate existing cartilage cells, regrow damaged knee cartilage, and potentially open a path toward treating arthritis without joint replacement. Human cartilage responded too, raising hopes that future drugs could repair arthritic joints and potentially reduce the need for knee or hip replacements. The approach not only reversed naturally occurring cartilage loss in older animals, but also protected mice from developing arthritis after knee injuries similar to ACL tears in people.

The findings also showed promise in human tissue. Cartilage samples collected during knee replacement surgeries responded to the treatment by beginning to produce new, functional cartilage. Together, the results suggest that cartilage damaged by aging or arthritis may be more capable of repair than previously thought.