New test detects early osteolysis after arthroplasty

• Investigators at the University of  Nebraska Medical Centre developed a system to detect early inflammation and osteolysis associated with arthroplasty
• The study was published in the Molecular pharmaceuticals Journal by Ren et al..
• They developed a polymer-based system — a N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymer-based optical imaging contrast agent (P-IRDye) — for imaging the inflammation that is associated with wear debris
• Twenty-four hours after particle implantation in mice, P-IRDye was administered. Live imaging of the animals 6 days after implantation, there was preferential distribution and sustained retention of macromolecular contrast agent at the side of implantation.
• This method could help detect early stages of bone loss that might cause a joint implant to come loose
• Additionally, the investigators  found they could tether an anti-inflammatory drug to the polymeric system to offer a method for treating inflammation and bone loss in early stages of wear.
• By using these methods, the authors concluded that early detection of osteolysis is possible, which is usually asymptomatic to begin with

Ref:

1. Ren K, et al. Early detection and treatment of wear particle-induced inflammation and bone loss in a mouse calvarial osteolysis model using HPMA copolymer conjugates. Mol Pharmaceutics. Published online March 25, 2011. doi: 10.1021/mp2000555.

Full text: http://bit.ly/kBo0bk