Cartilage regeneration with human dental pulp stem cells - a systematic review

Abstract

Background & Aim Background there is a high prevalence of patients with symptomatic cartilage lesions and it rises as a socioeconomic issue with a considerable economic problem. Despite the numerous techniques available today, complete healing of damaged or defective cartilage and the consistent reproduction of normal hyaline cartilage is not possible. Choice of harvesting site is motivated by MSCs abilities to modulate immunologic and inflammatory response. Recently, dental pulp has been shown to contain a stem cell niche and these dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) maintain their self-renewal capacity due to the active environment in the dental pulp of deciduous teeth. Aim the aim of this study was to review the current literature on the potential and limitations of cell-based therapies in cartilage regeneration using dental pulp derived mesenchymal stem cells. Methods, Results & Conclusion Methods an customized electronic search of scientific articles was conducted using PubMed/ MEDLINE and EMBASE databases from their inception to December 2018. Inclusion criteria were applied and the manuscripts that described usage chondral treatment with dental pulp stem cells were elected for complete evaluation. The articles were classified according to scaffold used, experimental model, features of chondrogenic differentiation, local of the defect, cartilage evaluation and results. After application of eligibility criteria, a total of 9 studies were selected and fully analyzed. Results a variety of animal models were used in the studies analyzed in this systematic review, including mice, rat, rabbit and miniature pig. It was evidenced tissue engineering for articular cartilage defects and safety of using human DPSCs to repair cartilage defects. There are six studies that created local defects to receive scaffold and test for DPSCs efficacy. Two studies focused on preclinical models for cartilage tissue engineering. Conclusion once presented and ongoing studies confirm positive results of DPSCs for articular cartilage treatment, new boundaries of stem cell therapy are open for cartilage tissue bioengineering and subsequent clinical trials should be performed.