Study on Hyaluronic Acid-<italic style="font-style: italic">g</italic>-lipoic acid Microsphere-based Injectable Hydrogel for Treating Early Knee Osteoarthritis

Mu-Zhi Zhang; Jia-Tian Qian; Da-Wei Niu; Yan-Cheng Chen; Shi-Ao Li; Jiu-Jiang Zeng; Kun-Xi Zhang; Yan-Li Song; Pei-Liang Fu

doi:10.1007/s10118-025-3511-7

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Study on Hyaluronic Acid-g-lipoic acid Microsphere-based Injectable Hydrogel for Treating Early Knee Osteoarthritis

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-01-30

- Study on Hyaluronic Acid-g-lipoic acid Microsphere-based Injectable Hydrogel for Treating Early Knee Osteoarthritis
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 2, Pages: 450-464(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.Department of Emergency, Tongji Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200065, China
  b.Department of Orthopedics, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200003, China
  c.Department of Polymer Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
- Author bio：
  
  zhangkunxi@shu.edu.cn (K.X.Z.)
  songyanli@tongji.edu.cn (Y.L.S.)
  fupeiliang@163.com (P.L.F.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-025-3511-7
  CLC：
- Received：25 September 2025，
  
  Accepted：21 November 2025，
  
  Online First：22 January 2026，
  
  Published：05 February 2026
- Accepted：
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Zhang, M. Z.; Qian, J. T.; Niu, D. W.; Chen, Y. C.; Li, S. A.; Zeng, J. J.; Zhang, K. X.; Song, Y. L.; Fu, P. L. Study on hyaluronic acid-g-lipoic acid microsphere-based injectable hydrogel for treating early knee osteoarthritis. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 450–464

Mu-Zhi Zhang, Jia-Tian Qian, Da-Wei Niu, et al. Study on Hyaluronic Acid-g-lipoic acid Microsphere-based Injectable Hydrogel for Treating Early Knee Osteoarthritis[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(2): 450-464. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-025-3511-7.
Zhang, M. Z.; Qian, J. T.; Niu, D. W.; Chen, Y. C.; Li, S. A.; Zeng, J. J.; Zhang, K. X.; Song, Y. L.; Fu, P. L. Study on hyaluronic acid-g-lipoic acid microsphere-based injectable hydrogel for treating early knee osteoarthritis. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 450–464 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3511-7.

Mu-Zhi Zhang, Jia-Tian Qian, Da-Wei Niu, et al. Study on Hyaluronic Acid-g-lipoic acid Microsphere-based Injectable Hydrogel for Treating Early Knee Osteoarthritis[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(2): 450-464. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-025-3511-7. DOI：

摘要

This study developed an injectable hyaluronic acid-lipoic acid microsphere (HA-LA MS) hydrogel to overcome the limited lubricity and bioactivity of conventional HA in early knee osteoarthritis. The composite exhibited superior lubrication

reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging

and anti-inflammatory effects

in vitro

and

in vivo

effectively delaying cartilage degeneration.

Abstract

Early knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is characterized by progressive degeneration of the articular cartilage

synovial inflammation

and excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). At present

intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid (HA) is widely used to alleviate symptoms; however

its lubrication persistence

antioxidant

and anti-inflammatory abilities are limited

and it is difficult to effectively delay the early process of cartilage degeneration. Based on this

hyaluronic acid-

-lipoic acid (HA-LA) was synthesized by esterification reaction

and HA-LA microspheres were prepared by a reversed-phase emulsion method

which was combined with a macromolecular HA-LA solution to form injectable hydrogels. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of an injectable hydrogel base

d on hyaluronic acid-

-lipoic acid microspheres (HA-LA MS) for the treatment of KOA and to verify its injectability

lubricity

reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging ability

and anti-inflammatory effects. The results show that the HA-LA MS hydrogel has excellent shear thinning characteristics and continuous injectability

and its microsphere structure significantly reduces the interfacial friction coefficient through the rolling effect.

In vitro

experiments have shown that the hydrogel can efficiently scavenge ROS

reduce the expression of inflammatory factors

and is non-cytotoxic. The HA-LA MS injectable hydrogel has excellent lubricity

ROS scavenging ability

and anti-inflammatory effects

in vivo

which can effectively delay the degeneration of early KOA cartilage

and its efficacy is significantly better than that of traditional hyaluronic acid

making it a promising intra-articular injection preparation.

关键词

Keywords

references

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⁰

Study on Hyaluronic Acid-g-lipoic acid Microsphere-based Injectable Hydrogel for Treating Early Knee Osteoarthritis

DOI：10.1007/s10118-025-3511-7

摘要

Abstract

关键词

Keywords

references