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 is a type of degenerative joint disease that results from breakdown of articular cartilage, joint cartilage and underlying bone. A form of arthritis, it is believed to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the world, affect ...

. There is limited evidence on safety and effectiveness as of 2017. It is not included in medical guidelines as of 2017. It is a type of autologous blood therapy.

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.

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 subject a specimen to a specified constant force - for example, to separate various components of a fluid. This is achieved by spinning the fluid at high speed within a container, thereby ...

until its constituent parts are separated. That serum is injected into the patient's affected area.

History

Autologous conditioned serum is a patented method developed by

molecular biologist Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

Julio Reinecke and Peter Wehling, a spinal surgeon in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, Germany. Orthokine was first approved for use in Germany in 2003. Orthokine differs from a similar procedure with

platelet-rich plasma Platelet-rich plasma (PRP), also known as autologous conditioned plasma, is a concentrate of plasma protein derived from whole blood, centrifuged to remove red blood cells but retaining platelets. Though promoted for treating various medical con ...

(PRP), where

platelets Platelets or thrombocytes () are a part of blood whose function (along with the coagulation factors) is to react to bleeding from blood vessel injury by clumping to form a blood clot. Platelets have no cell nucleus; they are fragments of cyto ...

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 (FDA). Freddie Fu, a professor of orthopedic surgery at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

, 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 composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

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

{{Reflist Biotechnology products Blood Sports medicine