Autologous conditioned serum, also known as Orthokine and Regenokine, is an experimental procedure in which a person's own blood is extracted, manipulated, and then reintroduced with claimed benefit in

osteoarthritis Osteoarthritis (OA) is a type of degenerative joint disease that results from breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone which affects 1 in 7 adults in the United States. It is believed to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the w ...

. There is limited evidence on safety and effectiveness as of 2017. It is not included in

medical guidelines Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...

as of 2017. It is a type of

autologous blood therapy Autologous blood therapy, also known as autologous blood injection or autohemotherapy, comprises certain types of hemotherapy using a person's own blood ('' auto-'' + '' hemo-'' + ''therapy''). There are several kinds, the original belonging only ...

Medical use

There is limited evidence on safety and effectiveness as of 2017. There is tentative evidence in

. Its use has not been recommended or considered by the

Osteoarthritis Research Society International The Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) is a non-profit scientific organization. The mission of OARSI is to promote and advance research for the prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis. OARSI publishes an international fully ...

Process

The process removes about of blood from a patient's arm, which is then incubated at a slightly raised temperature. The liquid is then placed in a

centrifuge A centrifuge is a device that uses centrifugal force to separate various components of a fluid. This is achieved by spinning the fluid at high speed within a container, thereby separating fluids of different densities (e.g. cream from milk) or ...

until its constituent parts are separated. That

serum Serum may refer to: *Serum (blood), plasma from which the clotting proteins have been removed **Antiserum, blood serum with specific antibodies for passive immunity * Serous fluid, any clear bodily fluid * Truth serum, a drug that is likely to mak ...

is injected into the patient's affected area.

History

Autologous conditioned serum is a patented method developed by

molecular biologist Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

Julio Reinecke and Peter Wehling, a

spinal surgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, Germany. Orthokine was first approved for use in Germany in 2003. Orthokine differs from a similar procedure with platelet-rich plasma (PRP), where

platelets Platelets, also called thrombocytes (from Greek θρόμβος, "clot" and κύτος, "cell"), are a component of blood whose function (along with the coagulation factors) is to react to bleeding from blood vessel injury by clumping, thereby ini ...

are targeted instead of the interleukin antagonist. Also, PRP does not require the blood to be heated as Orthokine does. As of August 2012, about 60,000 patients worldwide have received the treatment. Americans have traveled to Germany for the treatment, which has not been approved by the

U.S. Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...

(FDA).

Freddie Fu Freddie H. Fu ( zh, t=傅浩強, j=Fu6 Hou6-koeng4; (1950 – September 24, 2021) was a Hong Kongese-American doctor and academic. He was the David Silver Professor and chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pit ...

, a professor of orthopedic surgery at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

, said more high-quality independent trials proving the procedure's effectiveness are needed before the FDA approves.

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

player

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...

traveled to Germany to have the procedure performed. Some basketball fans refer to the procedure as the "Kobe Procedure". The procedure costs €6,000 (about $7,400) as of July 2012 and is not covered by

health insurance Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...

References

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