Knee cartilage injections for treating osteoarthritis: are they safe?
In January, a new injection (Conjuran) was approved as a new medical technology by the National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency (NECA) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, allowing osteoarthritis patients to receive treatment with a new knee cartilage injection. I will explain the differences compared to the hyaluronic acid injection commonly used for osteoarthritis treatment and how it can treat arthritis.
First, knee osteoarthritis is a condition where joint cartilage is lost and destroyed due to aging or trauma, causing inflammation and pain. The primary goals of knee osteoarthritis treatment are: 1. Reducing pain and joint stiffness, maintaining and improving joint mobility 2. Preventing further joint damage and improving quality of life. Therefore, it is very important to treat and manage knee osteoarthritis to prevent progression.
As part of osteoarthritis treatment, knee cartilage injections are available. Current standard knee cartilage injections use hyaluronic acid, which helps restore synovial fluid viscosity, supporting joint lubrication and shock absorption. However, whether it can halt or modify disease progression has not been established, so I recommend thorough consultation with your doctor before deciding on treatment.
Recently, a tissue-repair biomaterial injection (Conjuran) made from polynucleotides (PN) derived from long-chain DNA has been developed as a new medical technology. Composed of PN extracted from the reproductive cells of salmonid fish, Conjuran is made of polynucleotides that also exist naturally in the human body, making intra-articular injection safe for osteoarthritis treatment. It is expected to reduce side effect risks, decrease friction in the joint area, improve joint function, and relieve pain. Additionally, it maintains higher elasticity than conventional knee cartilage injections and gradually degrades over time, combining with synovial fluid in the joint capsule to maintain viscoelasticity longer than existing products, thereby reducing cartilage friction.
Let's review research papers comparing conventional hyaluronic acid with polynucleotides: 1. Efficacy of intra-articular polynucleotides in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (2010 / Knee Surgery Sports Traumatology Arthroscopy (SCI)) 2. In the Aging knee: Which Mitigation and Intervention Strategies do we apply in the intra articular Knee joint Injection? (2015 / Canadian Open Orthopaedics and Traumatology Journal) 3. A randomized double-blind clinical trial on the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (2014 / The Knee (SCIE)) The review concluded that compared to conventional hyaluronic acid, polynucleotide-based knee cartilage injections for osteoarthritis treatment: 1. Effectively improved knee osteoarthritis symptoms 2. Showed increasingly better improvement with longer treatment duration 3. Reduced medication use (anti-inflammatory drugs, painkillers) compared to hyaluronic acid 4. Unlike anti-inflammatory drugs or steroid injections that may cause complications, polynucleotide injections are safe and effective. In terms of arthritis staging, this appears to be an effective treatment for improving pain and quality of life in stages 1, 2, and 3, making it a good option among knee cartilage injections for osteoarthritis.
