The Winter Olympics is among the events that many anticipate this year. Breaking the boredom and exhaustion from the pandemic through the games not only entertains the global population but also inspires the science community. In a recent study, experts derived a new approach to medical treatment from the Olympics' main playing field: ice.
Ice-Lubricants in Olympics Inspired New Osteoarthritis Treatment
GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 22: Jocelyne Lamoureux #17 of the United States celebrates after she scores a goal against Shannon Szabados #1 of Canada in a shootout to win the Women's Gold Medal Game on day thirteen of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Hockey Centre on February 22, 2018, in Gangneung, South Korea.
Most of the sports presented in the Winter Olympics heavily rely on ice chunks. Among the most notable games exclusively conducted on ice sheets are speed skating, figure skating, and ice hockey.
The ice sheets in a sports arena consist not just of freezing ice. Unknown to many of us, there is a layer on top of the sheets made up of liquified super-lubricants. These layers allow the players to glide perfectly without hindrance throughout the ice sheets.
Scholars in a recent study borrowed the concept of the Olympic ice lubricants to develop a new treatment for the crippling bone problem known as osteoarthritis. With the same concept, a lubricant will be utilized to reduce the effects of the condition, such as intense friction and inflammation. According to PhysOrg, a model of the theory was laid out and examined with the help of mice subjects.
Osteoarthritis is a chronic bone condition that often targets the population in the age group of adults to older adults. Among the most common effects of osteoarthritis is the degeneration and inflammation of cartilages found between an individual's joints.
In today's time, several solutions could heal the disease. However, using these treatments for a long period of time could cause adverse effects on the receiving patients. Some of the commonly known side effects of long-term osteoarthritis procedures include reducing efficacy and other gastrointestinal issues.
One example of an anti-inflammatory procedure is the administration of corticosteroids. The medication is injected directly into the affected cartilage, and even though it could ease the extremities of the disease for a period of time, it could damage the target itself.
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Hyaluronic Acid and MPC Combined
With that said, experts from The Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School and Southeast University attempted to develop a new method that could deliver treatment to the joints safely and without unwanted inflammation.
The experts translated the Olympic ice-sheet-inspired lubricants into particles of a composition called hyaluronic acid or HA. the chemical compound is an effective lubricant and is already in use in many medical facilities. For a better variant of the solution, experts modified the HA particles using a microfluidic device. According to experts, the particles resulted in tiny methacrylate anhydride-HA gel particles, which are a lot stronger and long-lasting than the traditional HA solution.
The lubricant was then added with another coat of 2-methylacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine or MPC. This solution can attract microscopic sheets of water molecules to allow a smooth administration of the selected drug for treatment. The study was published in the journal ACS Nano, titled "Ice-Inspired Lubricated Drug Delivery Particles from Microfluidic Electrospray for Osteoarthritis Treatment."
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