Researchers at EPFL have developed an injectable hydrogel that, when combined with systemic drugs, significantly increases bone density in a short period. This innovative therapy could revolutionize the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis fractures.
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneJan 28 2025 Osteoporosis is a disease in which bone resorbs faster than it is formed, gradually weakening its structure over time and leading to fractures. Although the condition is well recognized, Dominique Pioletti, head of the Laboratory of Biomechanical Orthopedics in EPFL's School of Engineering, emphasizes that the economic and societal impacts of osteoporosis fractures are often underestimated.
A diagnosis of osteoporosis is usually followed by treatment with systemic drugs that work either by decreasing the resorption rate of old bone or boosting new bone production . But both types of treatment can take up to a year to have an effect, leaving patients vulnerable to fracture in the meantime.
In this work, we demonstrate for the first time that a combined therapy of a systemically delivered drug and local injection of our hydrogel delivers a rapid increase in bone density, and could therefore revolutionize the prevention of osteoporosis fractures." Boosting build-up while blocking breakdown Most current osteoporosis treatments are systemic, and the few local treatments available take the form of pastes that harden into a kind of cement. The easily injectable hydrogel developed at EPFL and flowbone, on the other hand, is made of hyaluronic acid and hydroxyapatite nanoparticles, and is designed to mimic the natural minerals in bone.
OSTEOPOROSIS BONE DENSITY HYDROGEL DRUG DELIVERY FRACTURE PREVENTION
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