Cartilage

Shares of Osiris Therapeutics fell 10 percent yesterday after the company announced that one of its adult stem cell drugs doesn't regenerate knee cartilage as expected. Still, Osiris said the therapy may have uses as an osteoarthritis treatment, according to minimal, undetailed data. It's the first significant disappointment the Baltimore business has had in a while, having gone public in the summer in one of last year's more successful biotech launches. Late Monday, the company issued a news release saying six months of early-stage clinical trials involving 55 patients have shown that the injectable adult stem cell drug, Chondragen, is ineffective at regrowing a crescent-shaped piece of knee cartilage called the meniscus.

A team of scientists at a small Baltimore biotechnology company has made a breakthrough in the effort to develop revolutionary new treatments to regenerate bone, cartilage, fat and other structural and connective tissues damaged by injury or disease.The team at Osiris Therapeutics Inc. has shown for the first time that progenitor, or "master" cells, which give rise to all other cells in the body, can be prodded in the laboratory into becoming replacement bone, cartilage, fat and other cells.

Anyone with creaky knees or other painful joints may someday get repairs made with an injectable plastic that gradually grows replacement cartilage, scientists report.A research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a plastic material containing living cartilage cells, designed for injection into troubled joints. The plastic hardens when subjected to ultraviolet light, providing a pliable "glue" that holds the cells in place while they grow.The basic idea is to replace or repair old, damaged joint tissue with slick new cartilage, smoothing the movement of limbs and erasing chronic pain.

Quote: "He's the best I've seen. I faced [Roger] Clemens in his early years and Nolan [Ryan]. Pedro is better." -- Edgar Martinez, Mariners DH, on Boston's Pedro Martinez.It's a fact: Toronto has batted around 12 times this season.Who's hot: The Blue Jays' Tony Fernandez is 16-for-30 (.533) in his last eight games.Who's not: Twins pitchers Mike Lincoln and LaTroy Hawkins are a combined 1-11 with a 7.31 ERA.On deck: Mariners shortstop Alex Rodriguez, who underwent surgery April 9 to repair torn cartilage in his left knee, is expected to start tonight against the Royals.

TREMAINE LYLE hasn't been to school since Feb. 22. Oh, there were those summer school classes he took. But from late February to June, when regular school was in session, Lyle wasn't there. And it's not because he doesn't want to go.It was on Feb. 22 that Tremaine was in Patterson High School's cafeteria and saw a buddy named Darrell quarreling with his girlfriend. Darrell, according to a summary of an administrative hearing conducted by a school system official, shoved the girl, Michelle, in the chest and pushed her down.

When the Ravens take the field this fall, several of them will fortify their knees - a football player's Achilles heel - with a nutritional supplement that is supposed to help the body renew joint cartilage. The supplement, CosaminDS, is sold only through pharmacies.The same supplement, under the name Cosequin, has been used for five years by veterinarians on canine patients who suffer from arthritis or knee injuries from chasing one too many Frisbees - and by the animals' owners for osteoarthritis.

As a doctor at Baltimore's Union Memorial Hospital Sports Medicine Clinic, Bill Howard not only has seen and treated a thousand injuries, he's also had most of them himself."

A surgeon with the Helix Health System in Baltimore has begun using a controversial procedure to repair knees in which cartilage is removed, expanded in a laboratory and put back into the knee.The technique has been hotly debated in the United States since its introduction two years ago, some surgeons praising it as a good alternative for some hobbled patients and others criticizing its commercialization.Doctors with Helix say it is suitable for a small proportion -- perhaps 2 percent -- of patients with damaged knee cartilage who have exhausted conventional therapies and are too young for knee replacements.

I read with interest your column about inflamed, red ears. There is a specific disease which has "red ears" as the primary and presenting symptom, and it is serious. I know because I have it and spent a lot of time trying to have it diagnosed. The disease is relapsing polychondritis. If left untreated, it is serious and can even cause death.Thank you for prompting us to let our readers know about relapsing polychondritis (RP). It is an unusual disease, the first sign of which may be a red ear or ears.

SAN ANTONIO -- Millions of Americans have undergone surgery to remove a torn meniscus cartilage in the knee, one of the most common injuries in sports. The long-term result of such surgery is often painful, degenerative arthritis in the knee.Now, clinical trials are beginning at a dozen sites across the country to study a new procedure designed to help the torn meniscus re-grow. The new method uses a crescent-shaped implant made of animal collagen, the connective tissue found in skin, cartilage and bone.

Arthritis affects almost 80 percent of Americans. And those affected are getting younger, according to Dr. Barry Waldman of OrthoMaryland and director of the Center for Joint Preservation and Replacement at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics at Sinai Hospital. "We don't really know why, but we're seeing an epidemic of patients with wearing out of joints in their 40s and even late 30s." But the good news, Waldman says, is that diet and exercise are the best ways to treat the disease.

Orioles reliever Jim Hoey won't pitch this season after undergoing surgery May 4 in Baltimore to repair torn cartilage and clean out debris from his right shoulder. Hoey, who appeared in 23 games with the Orioles last year, assumed that the arthroscopic procedure only would involve removing debris from the shoulder after magnetic resonance imagings and an arthrogram - when dye is injected in the affected area - didn't reveal any tears. But team orthopedist Dr. James Wilckens discovered a tear of the labrum behind the pitcher's shoulder that was significant enough to require three anchors to hold it down.

GAITHERSBURG -- Using light waves, polymers and a nuclear reactor, researchers here are investigating a superstrong, experimental gel that might some day turn into a novel treatment for millions of people who suffer from arthritis. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have spent two years shooting neutron beams at the mysterious hydrogel, trying to determine why it is almost as strong, flexible and resistant to friction as the cartilage in the human knee. The polymers in the gel - formed when synthetic molecules are struck by ultraviolet light - were developed by researchers at Hokkaido University in Japan in 2003.

I am over 50 and sometimes I feel like I am breaking down, one joint at a time. My hip hurts. My knee hurts. But it's my thumb that really hurts. The pain at the base of my left thumb is so great that sometimes I can't button a shirt, open a jar or grip the steering wheel in my car. I am pretty sure it is the result of using my thumb to hook my purse up and over my shoulder 10 times a day for 30 years. But the doctors can't say for sure. And, typical for my lowest-common-denominator life, I am suffering from a type of arthritis that is just about epidemic among women my age. Dr. Thomas J. Graham, chief surgeon at the Curtis National Hand Center at Union Memorial Hospital and the physician who examined my hand, said that surgery on the basilar joint of the thumb may soon eclipse knee and hip replacements and is perhaps the most common procedure hand surgeons perform.

After disappointing drug results and a stock downgrade from a major financial firm, Osiris Therapeutics Inc. detailed yesterday how it doubled its loss last year, blaming increased clinical trial efforts and charges associated with its initial public offering of stock in August. Loss for the year was $45 million, compared with $20 million in 2005. For the quarter that ended Dec. 31, the company lost $12.7 million, compared with $8.1 million for the final quarter of 2005. The earnings information, first detailed in a news release late Monday and then discussed during a conference call with analysts yesterday morning, didn't do much to move investors.

Shares of Osiris Therapeutics fell 10 percent yesterday after the company announced that one of its adult stem cell drugs doesn't regenerate knee cartilage as expected. Still, Osiris said the therapy may have uses as an osteoarthritis treatment, according to minimal, undetailed data. It's the first significant disappointment the Baltimore business has had in a while, having gone public in the summer in one of last year's more successful biotech launches. Late Monday, the company issued a news release saying six months of early-stage clinical trials involving 55 patients have shown that the injectable adult stem cell drug, Chondragen, is ineffective at regrowing a crescent-shaped piece of knee cartilage called the meniscus.

SAN DIEGO -- Osiris Therapeutics' experimental stem cell treatment for patients with damage to the knee cartilage, or meniscus, didn't stimulate growth of new cartilage in 55 patients taking part in a clinical study, the company said yesterday. About a third of the patients treated with the stem cell product, called Chondrogen, did show signs of reversal of arthritis symptoms, said C. Randal Mills, chief executive officer of the Baltimore company, in an interview yesterday at a stem cell conference in San Diego.

Strong quadriceps muscles - those at the front of the thigh - are a must for anyone who wants to speed downhill on skis, attempt a double axel on skates, or scale a mountain by foot or by bike. These muscles do more than help you straighten your legs and stand; they're integral to everything from walking to high jumping. But they may have specific importance for people with knee osteoarthritis. A recent study of people with the condition found that those who had stronger quadriceps had less cartilage loss behind the kneecap.

Knee cartilage that regenerates itself. Surgery performed by doctors operating miles away from their patients. Physical tests that can predict gold medal prospects for budding athletes. Medical technology is on the edge of tantalizing breakthroughs, says Dr. Bill Howard, director of sports medicine at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore. And most of the discoveries are expected to benefit athletes of all shapes and ages. "We're on the cusp of some really good stuff," says Howard. "When these [innovations]

A clinical trial of the popular dietary supplements glucosamine and chondroitin found no evidence that they're better than placebos in easing arthritic knee pain, the study's lead investigator said yesterday. The good news: Like placebos, they aren't harmful, either. The government-sponsored trial involving 1,600 arthritis sufferers at 16 medical centers across the country was designed to see whether the supplements lived up to their billing as potent weapons against arthritis. Sales of the two supplements topped $700 million in 2004, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.