Abstract
Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most prevalent joint diseases, causing pain, function loss and disability, leading to a progressive cartilage degeneration induced by biochemical changes in its composition. Current available treatments focus on addressing symptoms and joint replacement is the last treatment option. Advanced therapies with mesenchymal stem cells build new expectations to improve the results of OA treatments. MSC applied in animal models, show encouraging results in modulating inflammation and joint cartilage repair. Several studies applied autologous mesenchymal stem cells to treat knee osteoarthritis in humans by means of an intra-articular injection. Our team previously conducted a pilot study applying 40×10e6 autologous bone marrow expanded mesenchymal cells in 12 patients affected with knee osteoarhtritis through intra-articular infusion. After 2 years we obtained excellent clinical and quantitative MRI outcome measures, no adverse events reported.
Highlights
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent chronic joint disease and a frequent cause of joint pain, loss of function, and disability [1]
This study included 50 patients treated between May 2011 and November 2013, 30 male and 20 female who were diagnosed with Kellgren and Lawrence grades II to IV knee osteoarthritis by two independent observers
The starting point was quite homogeneous in the cohort, with mean values of 57 for the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and 10,9 for the Lequesne Index
Summary
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent chronic joint disease and a frequent cause of joint pain, loss of function, and disability [1]. The pathogenesis of knee OA has been linked to biomechanical and biochemical changes in joint cartilage, e.g. inability to withstand normal mechanical stresses, limited nutrients and oxygen supply, inadequate synthesis of extracellular matrix components, increased synthesis of proteinases and overall apoptosis of chondrocytes [2,3,4,5]. Current treatments for knee OA achieve poor clinical results and fail to modify cartilage. Joint replacement is the last treatment option, bearing enormous effort and expenses [7,8]. Its high prevalence and social impact have promoted the development of many therapeutic options to try to stop or slow down its progression. Diagnosis of OA is typically made late in the disease process and there are no disease modifying osteoarthritis drug (DMOADS) currently available for treatment. Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSC) opened new therapeutic perspectives provided their regenerative potential and ability to modulate inflammation [9,10,11,12]
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