An innovative therapy against osteoarthritis was used for the first time in our country. It is a new technique based on small vesicles extracted from stem cells.
In “Mañana será otro día” we talked to Francisca Alcayaga, IMPACT researcher at the Universidad de Los Andes, about the Chilean patient who was the first person in the world to receive an innovative therapy with “cell powder”.
To start the conversation, Alcayaga commented that “the term cellular powder is a metaphor they used to describe our work. It is the use of small cellular vesicles of a very small size”.
Along the same lines, the researcher pointed out that “it was discovered that these vesicles had proteins and nucleic acids that serve to mediate communication between cells”.
The expert also pointed out that “we isolated these small vesicles in the laboratory. We use them as therapy for various diseases. Including osteoarthritis”.
Treatment against osteoarthritis
On the other hand, Francisca Alcayaga gave more details about this innovative treatment that was used for the first time in a knee of a patient in our country. About this Alcayaga said that “the first patient was a woman who had knee osteoarthritis. The safety and efficacy of this treatment was proven, but in a specific case. It was administered 6 months ago and had very good results.”
“At 6 months the patient showed a drastic decrease in the pain she had in her knee. And a significant increase in functionality of the joint. We are now in a position to coordinate the first clinical trial of these vesicles,” the researcher indicated.
“Globally, these vesicles are being used for the treatment of different pathologies. Mainly cancer, neurodegenerative pathologies and also osteoarticular pathologies,” the expert concluded.
Author: Radio Concierto