Cartilage regeneration by autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of osteoarthritis

ConclusionHere we show that in twelve clinical cases, the cartilage was observed successfully regenerating and covering the defect region in knees after the intra-articular injection with adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and the treatment highly improves the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Basically, the adipose-derived MSCs from the patients are cultured and expanded to a specific amount with the optimized stem cell culture medium, the HELENE MEDIUM. After that, the cultured MSCs are directly injected into the injured knee joints of patients. The cartilage has gradually regenerated and been monitored by MRI photography in six months after treatment. Moreover, these patients showed improvement in clinical outcomes by measurements of the WOMAC Osteoarthritis index and Harris Hip Score. Based on the preclinical and clinical reports, except for replacement as chondrocytes, MSCs are able to secrete paracrine factors which take effects in modulating the microenvironment of the damaged sites, leading to an optimal condition for tissue regeneration. Also, further research will focus on determining co-injection of MSCs with differential factors could facilitate the cartilage regeneration. In summary, our results demonstrate the success in MSCs treatment of osteoarthritis by cartilage regeneration in clinical cases. We expect our findings of MSCs for osteoarthritis treatment could be a starting point in the field of regenerative therapy to more cartilage diseases and unsolve...
Source: Cytotherapy - Category: Cytology Source Type: research