Yorkshire university to launch £6m arthritis treatment centre

York University is one of four institutions that are part of the new Arthritis Research UK Tissue Engineering Centre, which aims to regenerate bone and cartilage by using patients’ own stem cells to repair the joint damage caused by the disease.

The research could see a major breakthrough in the treatment of arthritis, which causes pain and disability for eight million people in the UK.

Early treatments for the disease are usually limited to non-surgical options such as painkillers and physiotherapy. Joint replacement operations are carried out, but only when the disease has caused severe deterioration.

The principal investigator at the York centre, Dr Paul Genever, said: “Every patient has their own ‘repair kit’. Whereas joint replacement surgery uses metal and plastic to replace the severely damaged joint, we’re trying to treat at an earlier stage and assist the human body to repair itself.

“Keyhole and minimally invasive operations for early arthritis have been in development for some years and we propose to improve upon these techniques and work towards more widely available treatments. This requires research at all levels of the process, from laboratory to bedside. We hope that elements of this approach will reach the patient in the operating theatre within the first five years.”

The team in York will focus on understanding the basic biology behind adult stem cells and how they function. Researchers will work with stem cells taken from the bone marrow of patients who have undergone hip and knee replacement surgery.

The team will attempt to recreate the specialist environment in which stem cells live in bone marrow in the laboratory by combining stem cells with different cell types and matrix components. It is hoped that this will regenerate cartilage and other tissues in arthritis.

The medical director of Arthritis Research UK, Prof Alan Silman, said: “This early experimental work is the first step on a journey that could significantly reduce the need for joint replacement operations.

“It’s hugely exciting. At the moment joint replacement surgery is the most effective treatment we have but we have to allow people with arthritis to deteriorate until they reach a suitable point for surgery. This means patients are living for years with increasing pain and disability which has an impact on their quality of life.

“Arthritis of the hip and knee will be an increasing problem in our society as people age and want to remain active. Although joint replacement can be spectacularly successful, finding an injectable cell-based answer that could be used earlier would be a major breakthrough, reducing pain and disability and minimising health service costs.

“We believe our new centre will lead the way in this exciting field of research.”

The University of York is making a £360,000 investment in the centre, which launches on Thursday.

It is joined by Newcastle University, the University of Aberdeen, Keele University and the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Oswestry.

Funded by a core grant of £2.5m over five years from Arthritis Research UK with a further £3.4m pledged by the four participating universities, the centre will bring together leading clinicians, engineers and biologists from research and clinical groups.

For more information visit www.arthritisresearchuk.org/tissueengineering.