Preliminary Trial of Intra-articular LMWF-5A for Osteoarthritis of the Knee

This study was conducted to investigate the safety and efficacy of 3 intraarticular injections of the low-molecular-weight fraction of 5% human serum albumin (LMWF-5A) administered every 2 weeks for knee pain as a result of osteoarthritis. This single-center, randomized, vehicle-controlled, double-blind, phase II study was designed to ensure the safety of multiple intra-articular injections of LMWF-5A and to explore its efficacy in reducing pain as a result of knee osteoarthritis. Patients were randomized 1: 1 to receive 3 biweekly intra-articular knee injections of either 4 mL LMWF-5A or vehicle control (saline), administered at weeks 0 (baseline), 2, and 4. Safety was examined as the incidence and severity of adverse events. Efficacy was assessed by the mean (SD) change between treatment groups in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain score from baseline to week 20. A total of 40 patients were randomized and received treatment. No drug-related serious adverse events and no deaths were reported. Adverse events were similar in patients who received saline (18, 90%) and LMWF-5A (19, 95%). Those treated with LMWF-5A had a significant decrease in pain at 20 weeks compared with the saline group (-1.41 [SD, 0.81] vs -0.85 [SD, 0.64], P=.02), corresponding to improvement in pain at week 20 of 64% with LMWF-5A compared with 40% with saline. This preliminary clinical trial showed that repeated intra-articular injections of LMWF-5A are safe when administered at 2-week intervals and are effective in providing relief of the pain of osteoarthritis of the knee at 20 weeks.