Silvia Ravalli

Ciclo: XXXIV

Data inizio: 31/10/2018

Curriculum: Biomediche e Precliniche

Borsa: UniCT

Titolo tesi: Study Of Regenerative Engineering in Osteoarthritis and Prevention of Articular Cartilage Degeneration

Abstract: Osteoarthritis(OA) is a degenerative disease that affects the entire joint, leading to alterations in articular cartilage, ligaments, subchondral bone, and synovium. Rated as the 4th leading cause of chronic disability worldwide, OA is the most common reason behind joint replacement in developed societies, and its financial and social burden is likely to increase in the next future. Once merely considered as a wear and tear disease, due to the physiological decline of cartilage architecture in weight-bearing tolerance, OA is by now evolved into the definition of a multifactorial and complex disease. An imbalance between anabolic and catabolic processes is assumed to act in concert with several risk factors, e.g., age, gender, genetics, obesity, bone metabolism, physical stresses, muscle strength, trauma, and sports injuries. The treatment of chondral defects in clinical practice is hindered by the poor self-healing ability of cartilage. Tissue engineering, combining innovative scaffolds and stem cells, therefore emerges as a promising strategy for articular regeneration. One of the aims of this research was to exploit tissue engineering principles by evaluating the capability of a cell-free collagen I-based scaffold to promote cartilaginous repair after orthotopic implantation in vivo and observe the effect of an exogenous natural molecule, Cycloastragenol, in the chondrogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells in vitro. Furthermore, current literature underlines the importance of prevention and early intervention in order to avoid cartilage disruption and slow down the disease progression. For this reason, another aim of this work focused on contributing to the field of prevention of OA disease with new insights about the role of Vitamin D in cartilage development, the effect of physical exercise in OA synoviocyes and the consequence of muscle atrophy due to inactivity in a population of stem cells.

Tutor: Musumeci

Data Conseguimento Titolo: 08/04/2022

Linkedin: Indicate il link

Email: silviaravalli@gmail.com

Periodi all'estero- Sede e data: ICRC-Weyer GmbH, Contract Research Organization (CRO) based in Berlin, Germany 05/11/2021-05/03/2022

Esperienze post-Dottorato ed attuale occupazione: Biostatistical Programmer dal 16/05/2022 presso ICRC-Weyer GmbH, Contract Research Organization (CRO) based in Berlin, Germany.