What is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is a common form of Arthritis, where the body’s joint surface (cartilage or a smooth articular surface that allows pain free movement) wears out.
This tissue cushions and protects the ends of bones in a joint, and when it wears out, the bone ends rub on one another and cause pain.
The term arthritis literally means inflammation of a joint, but is generally used to describe any condition in which there is damage to the cartilage.
What Causes of Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis most commonly is an age related or degenerative joint disease. The surface damage causes a natural Inflammatory response.
Causes can include excessive strain over prolonged periods of time, or due to other joint diseases, injury or deformity. There are many other conditions that can cause arthritis and often the exact cause is never known.
In extreme cases, the cartilage can completely wear away, leaving nothing to protect the bones in a joint, causing bone-on-bone contact.
What Symptoms of Osteoarthritis?
The warning signs of Arthritis are related to inflammation in one or more joints for more than two weeks. Typical symptoms are:
- Redness
- Tenderness
- Swelling
- Heat and
- Pain
- Limitation of motion of a joint
- Early morning stiffness
- Skin changes including rashes
Osteoarthritis can limit a person's normal range of motion (the ability to freely move and bend a joint). When severe, the joint may lose all movement, causing a person to become disabled.
Disability most often happens when the disease affects the spine, knees, and hips.
How is Osteoarthritis Treated?
Initial treatment for osteoarthritis of the hip or knee is conservative, consisting of:
Resting and avoiding vigorous weight bearing activities,
- Using of a cane or a knee brace
- Using of non-narcotic analgesics
- Taking anti inflammatory medications, and
- Injections of cortisone
When conservative measures have been exhausted and are no longer helpful, and the arthritis has become disabling, surgery may be recommended
A Cutting Edge Regenerative Treatment for Osteoarthritis
The simple illustration below of a brick wall explains how regenerative medicine such as a combination of hyaluronic acid as artificial cartilage and platelet rich plasma therapy (PRP) to repair damaged cartilage.
Damaged Cartilage
Joint Cartilage is made up of Chondrocytes cells. These are like bricks in a wall.
Our body normally repairs damage to these cells.
The bricks also need mortar to hold them in place. So the Chondrocytes cells secrete an extracellular matrix that acts as a mortar.
Repaired Cartilage
The body naturally sends signals to repair specific damage and the brick fits itself into the hole and secures itself in place by secreting its own mortar. The bricks are joined by other bricks doing the same thing.
When the mortar is too thin, the bricks don’t hold, osteoarthritis progresses
What is Blood Plasma?
Plasma contains many factors essential for cell survival including nutrients, vitamins, hormones, electrolytes, growth factors (such as IGF and HGF), and proteins.
Among the plasma proteins, the molecules vital for the coagulation process and for the fibrin polymer formation will serve as a scaffold for cell migration and new tissue generation.
What are Platelets?
Platelets are key factors in hard and soft tissue repair mechanisms.
They provide essential growth factors, such as FGF, PDGF, TGF-ß, EGF, VEGF, IGF, which are involved in stem cell migration, differentiation and proliferation.
Additionally,platelets also stimulate fibroblasts and endothelial cells to induce new extracellular matrix deposition and neo-vascularisation respectively.
What is Hyaluronic Acid?
Hyaluronic Acid (HA) is a major component of synovial fluid contributing to joint homeostasis.
Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is concentrated or enriched with platelets from the patient’s own blood (autologous)
PRP regulates the repair mechanism, can stimulate healing of bone and soft tissue and reverses the catabolic environment.
PRP contains several different growth factors and other cytokines. Platelets provide essential growth factors, such as FGF, PDGF, TGF-ß, EGF, VEGF, IGF, which are involved in
- Stem cell migration
- Differentiation and
- Proliferation
Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy is a proven therapy in the healing of soft and hard tissues. Benefits include:;
- Alleviate painful symptoms associated with conditions like arthritis and tendonitis
- Reduce inflammation
- Promote cell modulation and healing, and
- Delay joint replacement surgeries
About Cellular Matrix Therapy
CellularMatrix is a combined therapy that includes both HA and the Patient’s A-PRP for improved clinical therapies for Osteoarthritis.
CellularMatrix synergistically combines the complementary clinical effects of HA and A-PRP® to provide added benefit for Osteoarthritis patients.
CellularMatrix Therapy plays a major role in visco-supplementation and pain relief in Osteoarthritis. A network of HA chains constitutes an ideal cell-friendly matrix.
CellularMatrix Therapy is administered in 3 stages: Day 0, Day 60 and Day 180
The patient’s platelet concentrate prepared with CellularMatrix, provides growth factors supported by 25 years of clinical experience showing pain relief and functional improvement lasting 6 to 12 months
Breaking the Vicious Cycle of Osteoarthritis
Among the plasma proteins, the molecules vital for the coagulation process and for the fibrin polymer formation will serve as a scaffold for cell migration and new tissue generation.
Growing body of evidence to support the treatment of Osteoarthritis mechanism of action comprises anti-inflammatory activity and activation of cell-signalling cascades
About Cellular Matrix Therapy
CellularMatrix has a key role in new matrix synthesis for tissue regeneration.
Immediate formation, in one easy step, of a cell-friendly HA network in which platelets are dispersed, using a system which is specifically approved for preparation of the HA / A-PRP association.
CellularMatrix is a Medical Device that contains 2 ml of natural, non-crosslinked, HA at a concentration of 20 mg / ml (40 mg total), in addition to the thixotropic cell-separation gel and the sodium citrate anticoagulant solution.