Now, a revolutionary treatment may provide relief for the joint inflammation, pain, stiffness and reduced mobility that often come with arthritis or other knee injuries.<\/p>\n
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Whether from age or knee injuries, everyone eventually experiences wear and tear of the protective cartilage in joints. Dragana Gordic \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n
Nearly everyone will be affected by wear and tear on the protective layer of cartilage at the ends of our bones, either by developing osteoarthritis<\/a> as they age or from injuries like ACL tears, where pivoting, jumping and abruptly stopping are frequent.<\/p>\n The most common treatment for severe arthritis is to surgically replace the damaged joint, a costly prevention for a condition millions suffer with.<\/p>\n Researchers at Stanford Medicine<\/a>, though, have discovered a breakthrough treatment in older mice that regrows damaged knee cartilage by restoring naturally lost cartilage and prevents osteoarthritis after knee injuries.<\/p>\n New, functional joint cartilage was also produced from the treatment \u2014 which was discovered by further investigating a protein that we naturally produce as we age.<\/p>\n The protein 15-PGDH is described as a gerozyme, or an enzyme that becomes more abundant with age and contributes to the gradual loss of tissue function.<\/p>\n Blocking the protein in older mice has been linked to increased muscle mass and endurance, as well as regeneration of bone, nerve and blood cells.<\/p>\n These tissues heal by tissue-specific stem cells multiplying and changing into specialized cells.<\/p>\n Not cartilage cells, though. Instead of relying on stem cells, they heal by changing their patterns of gene activity.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a new way of regenerating adult tissue, and it has significant clinical promise for treating arthritis due to aging or injury,\u201d senior study author Helen Blau said in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n The gerozyme inhibitor \u201ccauses a dramatic regeneration of cartilage beyond that reported in response to any other drug or intervention,\u201d senior study author Nidhi Bhutani added.<\/p>\n Earlier research from the same team found a molecule that\u2019s important for the function of muscle stem cells called prostaglandin E2, which 15-PGDH breaks down.<\/p>\n Blocking 15-PGDH allows prostaglandin E2 levels to increase and support healing of damaged muscle, nerve, bone, liver and blood cells in young mice.<\/p>\n Injecting older mice with a small molecule drug designed to inhibit 15-PGDH, the knee cartilage of the animals became thicker across the surface of the joint.<\/p>\n Notably, the cells were also making hyaline cartilage, or smooth articular cartilage needed for healthy joint movement, with Bhutani saying the cartilage regeneration took the team by surprise and that \u201cthe effects were remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/close-up-therapist-showing-knee-144656359.jpg\")
A treatment that blocks the 15-PGDH protein may restore and repair naturally occurring cartilage damage in knees. rh2010 \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n