Human Growth Hormone Injections in the Knee Joint to Treat Osteoarthritis

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if growth hormone injections can be used to treat osteoarthritis (OA) in the knee. Human studies have shown that repeated injections of human growth hormone leads to the production of articular chondrocytes, which are the cells that make up the cartilage in the knee joint. Restoring cartilage in the knee can alleviate pain, improve function, and postpone the need for a joint replacement procedure. The main questions the study aims to answer are: * Do growth hormone injections in the knee joint stimulate cartilage growth? * Do the injections lower pain and stiffness in the participant's treated knee? * Does the participant have more mobility after the injections? The physician will monitor the participant's progress through X-ray images, questionnaires, and physical evaluation of the treated knee. For the trial, participants will: * Receive a growth hormone injection in their knee once per week for six weeks, for a total of 6 injections. * Complete at-home exercises during the treatment period. * Use crutches as needed during the trial. * Have X-rays taken at 8 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months after the first injection. * Go to follow-up visits at 8 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months after the first injection. * Complete treatment surveys before treatment starts and after it is finished.

Timeline

Start

2025-02-08

Primary completion

2026-02-08

Completion

2026-02-08

Publications

• Background Martimbianco AL, Calabrese FR, Iha LA, Petrilli M, Lira Neto O, Carneiro Filho M. Reliability of the "American Knee Society Score" (AKSS). Acta Ortop Bras. 2012;20(1):34-8. doi: 10.1590/S1413-78522012000100007.
• Background Imani F, Hejazian K, Kazemi MR, Narimani-Zamanabadi M, Malik KM. Adding Ozone to Dextrose and Somatropin for Intra-articular Knee Prolotherapy: A Randomized Single-Blinded Controlled Trial. Anesth Pain Med. 2020 Nov 7;10(5):e110277. doi: 10.5812/aapm.110277. eCollection 2020 Oct.
• Background Rahimzadeh P, Imani F, Faiz SH, Alebouyeh MR, Azad-Ehyaei D, Bahari L, Memarian A, Kim KH. Adding Intra-Articular Growth Hormone to Platelet Rich Plasma under Ultrasound Guidance in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Comparative Double-Blind Clinical Trial. Anesth Pain Med. 2016 Oct 19;6(6):e41719. doi: 10.5812/aapm.41719. eCollection 2016 Dec.
• Background Thomas KA, Kidzinski L, Halilaj E, Fleming SL, Venkataraman GR, Oei EHG, Gold GE, Delp SL. Automated Classification of Radiographic Knee Osteoarthritis Severity Using Deep Neural Networks. Radiol Artif Intell. 2020 Mar 18;2(2):e190065. doi: 10.1148/ryai.2020190065.
• Background Worthley DL, Churchill M, Compton JT, Tailor Y, Rao M, Si Y, Levin D, Schwartz MG, Uygur A, Hayakawa Y, Gross S, Renz BW, Setlik W, Martinez AN, Chen X, Nizami S, Lee HG, Kang HP, Caldwell JM, Asfaha S, Westphalen CB, Graham T, Jin G, Nagar K, Wang H, Kheirbek MA, Kolhe A, Carpenter J, Glaire M, Nair A, Renders S, Manieri N, Muthupalani S, Fox JG, Reichert M, Giraud AS, Schwabe RF, Pradere JP, Walton K, Prakash A, Gumucio D, Rustgi AK, Stappenbeck TS, Friedman RA, Gershon MD, Sims P, Grikscheit T, Lee FY, Karsenty G, Mukherjee S, Wang TC. Gremlin 1 identifies a skeletal stem cell with bone, cartilage, and reticular stromal potential. Cell. 2015 Jan 15;160(1-2):269-84. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.11.042.

Drugs

Indications