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Veterinarians Develop Promising New Approach To Arthritis

Author: TR BioSurgical, LLC
Posted: Wednesday 10th February, 2010. 00:00:00

A new gel-like material found to have long term effects in dogs with severe arthritis

Veterinarians have announced a potential breakthrough in how we manage osteoarthritis, a discovery that could benefit man’s best friend. Using a new, collagen based bioscaffold gel, (called TRB-01), veterinarians at TR BioSurgical found very encouraging long term results in dogs with moderate to severe osteoarthritis. Arthritis is a leading cause of disability in dogs and often results in lack of exercise which may precipitate other healthcare problems. Owner costs to treat dog knee injuries have been estimated to exceed $1 billion dollars per year.

The 6 month findings have shown that after a single bioscaffold device implant, 8 out of 9 dogs remained free of clinical signs of arthritis with no need for anti-inflammatory or pain medications. Veterinarians at several institutions are expanding this work to better understand the implant’s effects in hips, knees, and elbows. The results could lead to a brand new approach to managing joint disorders.

TRB-01 is a gel-like implant made from collagen, a well characterized medical device. However, TRB-01 has a unique structure resembling early stage developmental collagen. This structure is a very important feature and reveals an instruction code normally hidden in adult, folded collagen. Previous studies have shown TRB-01 to cause existing cells to produce a variety of tissue repair signals which result in physiological tissue repair.

Dr. Craig Woods, CEO of TR BioSurgical stated, “We have been overwhelmed by the response to this new medical device. The gel-like implant sticks to tissue and provides a coating. We suspect that existing repair cells found in the tissue, such as stem and progenitor cells, infiltrate the gel and may feel more at home, so to speak. By creating the right environment, these cells appear to repair damaged tissues in a manner consistent with what is observed using stem cells”

Dr. Woods went on to state, “We remain very puzzled on why the effects last so long, and postulate the infiltrating cells may produce a long term tissue response. More work is underway to better characterize this device, which could lead to more effective approaches to managing arthritic animals.”

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