Researchers have made big steps toward understanding post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) and possibly even developing ways to treat it on board the International Space Station (ISS).
(Photo: Getty Images/ Dean Mouhtaropoulos )
Innovative Research on the ISS
Alan Grodzinsky of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is leading this latest work, which uses a tissue chip, a microphysiological system. By using it to mimic and investigate the early phases of PTOA, researchers are giving millions of people impacted by the condition fresh hope.
The ISS National Laboratory funded the ISS project, marking a significant milestone in osteoarthritis research. Because microgravity has its own set of rules, scientists were able to recreate the joint world accurately.
The study used a tissue chip model that could replicate the earliest events of the PTOA start, which is hard to do on Earth. This allowed researchers to test various treatments to slow or stop the disease's progression.
Grodzinsky wrote in the April 2024 issue of Upward magazine that PTOA can happen quickly after a joint injury. The high incidence of early-onset osteoarthritis in female athletes inspired him. "Totally normal knee," he said, "and then you hurt your joint, and in five, ten, or fifteen years, you get full-blown osteoarthritis."
There are currently no FDA-approved drugs to treat PTOA, even though it affects about 20% of the 650 million people around the world who have osteoarthritis. The creative experiment involved applying pressure to donor cartilage before launching it into space to simulate damage.
Once at the ISS, a microfluidics system kept the tissues alive in cultures, sending nutrients and occasionally drugs to monitor their effectiveness. Launched on the SpaceX CRS-17 mission in 2019, the first experiment encountered technical issues. However, later attempts, including one that went well on the CRS-21 mission in December 2020, showed positive results.
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Promising Results and Their Importance for the Future
Even though the ISS environment made the test tissues more susceptible to inflammation, the drugs tested in space were able to mitigate the effects of the simulated injury. These significant results give researchers new ways to test possible treatments for osteoarthritis and other joint problems.
Grodzinsky stressed the importance of these results and said they could lead to new ways of trying drugs and treatments for osteoarthritis and other joint problems. He also noted that these data might help create treatments that prevent the disease from happening.
The tissue chip model's ability to mimic the complex joint environment is one of its best features. This makes it possible to do precise and controlled experiments. This skill is essential for determining how joint diseases work and developing targeted treatment methods.
The experiment's success demonstrates how a space-based study can accelerate medical advancements for use on Earth.
However, it is still difficult to translate these insights into practical treatments for humans. The original tests employed a small sample size, so more research with a bigger sample size was required to guarantee the accuracy of the findings.
Grodzinsky voiced doubts over the viability of the reactions shown in the donor tissues or their persistence in other samples. Even with these issues, the study represents a significant advancement in osteoarthritis research.
Because of the conditions on the International Space Station, scientists could investigate the illness in ways that would not have been possible on Earth. As more research is done, people with PTOA and other joint problems can expect to find better treatments. This will raise the standard of living for millions of people worldwide.
Space studies can change how medicine is done, but they haven't been used yet. This new study shows how important it is to keep funding space science. It makes more progress in the fight against osteoarthritis and other linked conditions. It was published in March in the magazine Frontiers in Space.
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