Taking a few cells from the cartilage of the nose with a painless biopsy, growing them in the laboratory and creating a new cartilaginous membrane with which to replace the worn one from the patient's knee: this is a new treatment for arthritis at the center of the European research project Encanto (Engineered nose cartilage for the treatment of osteoarthritis) of which the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital Foundation is coordinator. The project is one of the innovative research presented today during the Research Day of the Bio-Medico Campus, in which, among others, the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti, the president of the Health, Social Policies and Social Integration Commission participated. health of the Lazio Region Alessia Savo, the Extraordinary Commissioner of Inail Fabrizio D'Ascenzo and the director of the Department of Biomedical Sciences of the Cnr Giovanni Maga.
The Encanto project – according to a note – aims to develop regenerative medicine of knee cartilage to make it a large-scale alternative to the more invasive and burdensome knee prosthesis implant for the patient and involves eminent experts from various European nations: 18 partners from nine EU Member States (Italy, Germany, Croatia, Austria, Poland, Sweden, Greece, the Netherlands and Finland) and one third country (Switzerland).
“The Fondazione Policlinico Campus Bio-Medico is committed to the development of advanced therapies with the use of cells, in particular treatments that can stimulate tissue regeneration, offering new hope to patients affected by complex orthopedic conditions such as chronic back pain , arthrosis and delayed healing of fractures – declares Vincenzo Denaro, scientific director and head emeritus of Orthopedics and Traumatology of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico – Overall, it has over 60 operational research units and more than 600 active clinical studies involving over 7,000 patients. Our researchers have achieved important results in 2023: a success rate of 36% for research projects presented in response to national and international competitive calls and over 140 clinical studies between profit and non-profit have been evaluated by the Ethics Committee”.
Research Day “is the event in which the Foundation shares with the scientific community and the institutional world the most significant progress achieved during the year and the main ongoing studies – underlines Paolo Sormani, CEO and General Director of the Policlinico Foundation University Bio-Medical Campus -. Scientific activity is very important for us, both because we are convinced that where research is done the patient care activity is also better and because we want to complete the process of recognition as an Irccs with orthopedic specialization, which we hope can be achieved in 2025″.
The project – the note details – is configured as an innovative regenerative approach for the treatment of osteoarthritis which involves an international multicenter clinical trial in order to propose a concrete alternative to the knee prosthesis implant with which it is normally treated this potentially disabling disorder. Osteoarthritis, in fact, is characterized by the progressive degeneration of the articular cartilage and is one of the main causes of pain and disability globally. Encanto proposes to tap into the potential of nasal cartilage cells to regenerate cartilage tissue in the knee, restore joint stability, improve mobility and reduce pain. Through a small biopsy of the nasal cartilage, cartilage cells, called autologous chondrocytes, are obtained in the laboratory and grown on a collagen scaffold, forming actual three-dimensional cartilage membranes. These are then applied in the knee, in the arthritic areas of the knee joint to replace the worn native cartilage.
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