According to the most recent data published by the World Health Organisation, it is estimated that between 2015 and 2050 the number of individuals aged sixty or over will have almost doubled, rising from 12% to 22%. This statistic hides a very real challenge because a progressively ageing population will have very real and practical consequences for daily life and the organisation of society in general. There was an urgent need to address the problem of an ageing population and to establish whether the health of this population was good or bad. For those individuals who fall into the latter category, there are some who suffer from osteoarthritis. This disease which affects the joints, affects 15% of the World’s population. 18 million Europeans and one in three Belgians suffer from the disease. Today, it is possible to reduce pain or to compensate for the loss of mobility, but there is no real treatment for osteoarthritis. This fact underlines the importance of the thesis completed by Frédéric Oprenyeszk at the Bone and Cartilage Research Unit (BCRU – Professor Yves Henrotin) of the University of Liege. The results obtained, which were published in PLOS ONE (1), show that chitosan, a vegetable compound naturally present in the stems of button mushrooms, is the key to regenerating the synovial fluid that is essential for healthy cartilage. In order to demonstrate this, diseased cells from patients who volunteered to take part in the study were used and placed in contact with a chitosan-enriched matrix. This scientific advance is part of a broader fruitful collaboration between the academic world and industry.

Read the complete article

(1) Chitosan enriched three-dimensional matrix reduces inflammatory and catabolic mediators production by human chondrocytes, Oprenyeszk Frédéric, Sanchez Christelle, Dubuc Jean-Emile, Maquet Véronique, Henrist Catherine, Compère Philippe, Henrotin Yves, in PLOS ONE, 2015, Ref. ORBI : http://hdl.handle.net/2268/182363