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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Apr 26, 2019; 11(4): 222-235
Published online Apr 26, 2019. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v11.i4.222
Application of mesenchymal stem cell therapy for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: A concise review
Ai-Tong Wang, Ying Feng, Hong-Hong Jia, Meng Zhao, Hao Yu
Ai-Tong Wang, Ying Feng, Hong-Hong Jia, Meng Zhao, Hao Yu, Cell Products of National Engineering Research Center, National Stem Cell Engineering Research Center, Tianjin 300457, China
Author contributions: Wang AT and Feng Y participated in the conception and writing of the manuscript; Jia HH generated the figures; Zhao M reviewed and suggested modifications to the content; Yu H designed the aim of the editorial, participated in the conception and contributed to the writing of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hao Yu, PhD, Doctor, Cell Products of National Engineering Research Center, National Stem Cell Engineering Research Center, Tianjin TEDA Fourth Street, Tianda Science Park, B3. B4 Building, Tianjin 300457, China. yuhao@amcellgene.com
Telephone: +86-27-68758727 Fax: +86-27-68759222
Received: January 8, 2019
Peer-review started: January 8, 2019
First decision: January 21, 2019
Revised: January 30, 2019
Accepted: March 16, 2019
Article in press: March 16, 2019
Published online: April 26, 2019
Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) refers to a chronic joint disease characterized by degenerative changes of articular cartilage and secondary bone hyperplasia. Since articular cartilage has a special structure, namely the absence of blood vessels as well as the low conversion rate of chondrocytes in the cartilage matrix, the treatment faces numerous clinical challenges. Traditional OA treatment (e.g., arthroscopic debridement, microfracture, autologous or allogeneic cartilage transplantation, chondrocyte transplantation) is primarily symptomatic treatment and pain management, which cannot contribute to regenerating degenerated cartilage or reducing joint inflammation. Also, the generated mixed fibrous cartilage tissue is not the same as natural hyaline cartilage. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have turned into the most extensively explored new therapeutic drugs in cell-based OA treatment as a result of their ability to differentiate into chondrocytes and their immunomodulatory properties. In this study, the preliminary results of preclinical (OA animal model)/clinical trials regarding the effects of MSCs on cartilage repair of knee joints are briefly summarized, which lay a solid application basis for more and deeper clinical studies on cell-based OA treatment.

Keywords: Osteoarthritis, Mesenchymal stem cells, Stem cell therapy, Clinical trials

Core tip: The key points include: (1) Animal studies have reported that the expanded culture of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is conducive to repairing cartilage and subchondral bone, and regulating the progression of secondary osteoarthritis (OA); (2) Recent studies on the treatment of OA by MSCs have progressed to clinical trials, and most clinical trials have achieved significant positive results with minimal side effects; and (3) Intra-articular injection of MSCs can offer OA patients a safe and effective treatment, yet some problems still remain to be solved for the clinical application of MSC in the treatment of OA.