The World Congress on Osteoarthritis (OARSI)

• Bioibérica leads a research project to predict progression of osteoarthritis by examining a small saliva sample.
• Dr. Francisco J. Blanco García, rheumatologist at the A Coruña University Hospital Complex presented during the OARSI congress the basics of their research project-more than 32 hospitals from all across Spain have participated in it.

Barcelona, September 20, 2011. The study of osteoarthritis genetics opens up new fields for the research of the prognosis and progression of knee osteoarthritis. This is one of the main conclusions of the OARSI World Congress on Osteoarthritis, held this past weekend in San Diego, California. Bioibérica presented its Arthrosischip project, which uses a saliva sample test to predict the progression of osteoarthritis.

The development and progression of osteoarthritis has a strong genetic component. The genetic component explains some 60 to 70% of cases of certain variants of osteoarthritis. This evidence sets the bases for the research project lead by Bioibérica and presented to the world congress on osteoarthritis. by Dr. Francisco J. Blanco, rheumatologist from the A Coruña University Hospital Complex.

Dr. Francisco J. Blanco explained that osteoarthritis is considered a polygenic disease with multiple gene interactions. He also commented that we can find genetic material both in the chondrocyte nuclei as well as in the mitochondria, and that this genetic material plays an important role in the progression of osteoarthritis. That is, different mitochondrial DNA haplogroups might cause different arthrosic phenotypes, causing therefore various degrees of progression.

These findings are the foundation upon which the Arthrosischip project is being developed. The Arthrosischip tool uses a combination of clinical and genetic (DNA chip) data to predict the progression of primary knee osteoarthritis in patients previously diagnosed with that disease, evaluating the potential risks of prosthetic surgery for each individual case. Arthrosischip consists of the genetic test of a saliva sample. This test, which uses DNA microarray technology, identifies significant genetic mutations associated to the progression of osteoarthritis. Arthrosischip compares the test’ results to the patient’s clinical data-that is, it compares it to risk factors such as gender, BMI, or concomitant diseases like as diabetes. Dr. Blanco commented also on the design of the clinical study, which is multicentric and retrospective, and that it is currently in the final stage, that of sample recruitment.

This project is a joint research project of Bioibérica, the leading company in the field of chondroprotection with more than 30 years of experience in the field of joint healthcare, and Progenika, a company specializing in the design and development of personalized medicine tools. More than 32 hospitals from all across Spain have contributed to this project.

OARSI Barcelona, April 2012
Next year’s edition of OARSI will be held in Barcelona during the month of April, and BIOIBERICA will be one of its main sponsors. The congress will gather more than a thousand specialists from all over the world, including rheumatologists, orthopaedic surgeons, clinical researchers, radiologists along with many others professionals with an interest in osteoarthritis research. In sum, the OARSI 2012 congress will bring together the leading experts in the treatment of osteoarthritis. They will come to share findings and experience related to the research of this disease- for one week, Barcelona and Spain will be the world headquarters of the struggle against osteoarthritis.

Bioiberica Farma
Bioiberica Farma is the only Spanish laboratory specializing in the research and development of effective drugs to treat osteoarthritis. It specializes particularly in chondroprotection, that is, in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cartilage, synovial membrane and subchondral bone injuries.

Its expertise in the treatment of osteoarthritis has brought Bioiberica Farma to a leading position in the field of chondroprotection. This leading position is confirmed by a number of published or in-progress research papers; by the recognition of several scientific and medical societies; by the strict chemical and biological quality controls of its manufacturing process; by the quality of their products, and by the publication by BIOIBERICA of several journals specializing in chondroprotection issues.

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