Osteo-Arthritis Management

Research interests

• Development of novel Intra-articular drug delivery system
• Spray-drying
• Hyaluronic acid derivatives and polymers synthesis
• Stem cells therapy

Research interests

• Development of Intra-articular drug delivery systems
• Mesenchymal stem cells
• Nanotechnology
• Inflammation processes in OA

Summary

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating, chronic disease that affects joints through progressive inflammation and degradation of the articular cartilage. The complexity of the joint tissues together with other factors implicated in OA leads to a common strategy that involves among others pain management, and ultimately lead to joint surgery. Given this scenario, novel strategies for effecting cures in OA have been recently investigated. Alternative strategies for cartilage regeneration based on stem cell therapy involve several cartilage degeneration pathways and might be more successful, compared to small molecules that only targets one OA pathway. Our research focuses on the formulation of different delivery systems for the local treatment of osteoarthritis to increase vitality and proliferation of Mesenchymal stem cells. We aim to develop all our formulations from basic chemistry to in vivo studies.

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Research interests

• Development of novel Intra-articular drug delivery systems
• Disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs (DMOADs)
• Microfluidics
• Polymeric nanoparticles and microparticles

Summary

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common degenerative disease of the joint. Disease evolution in knees, hips, fingers, and the lower spine region is associated with cartilage damage, subchondral bone alterations, synovial tissue inflammation and altered synovial fluid properties. The treatment options available are only symptomatic, and no disease-modifying therapies are available that stabilize or revert OA progression. In this context, the aim of our research is to design biodegradable and biocompatible drug delivery systems (DDSs) containing disease-modifying OA drugs (DMOADs) for intra-articular (IA) administration.

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