Intra-articular Drug Delivery Systems for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis

My research focused on the treatment of osteoarthritis using injectable biomaterials. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common joint disease, patients afflicted by the disease suffer from pain and loss of function. Treatment options for OA are unfortunately limited, and are at present essentially based on treating the symptoms with oral painkillers until the moment of joint replacement has become inevitable. However, joint replacement is major surgery and complications are not uncommon. Moreover, the life-expectancy of these prostheses is approximately 15 years, after which the patient often needs revision surgery. A lot of research is being done to find other, non-surgical, treatment options. Intra-articular drug administration is one of those options, but the rapid drug clearance from the joint only leads to very short-lived effect. For our research, we developed two different biomaterials, monospheres and hydrogels, which can be injected in the diseased joint. After intra-articular injection of these materials, they slowly degrade and while doing so, the drug that the material is loaded with gradually releases within the joint. Through my research, we found that both materials are very suitable for intra-articular use, that they achieve long-term and sustained drug release without harming the injected joint nor the rest of the body. Further research is needed, but these materials show great potential of becoming a new treatment option for OA in the future.