Abstract
Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) injections for osteoarthritis is reviewed
Methods: PubMed search was conducted to identify articles in English from 2003-2018 that used intraarticular injection (IA), cartilage repair, cartilage regeneration, chondral injury, adipose stem cells, bone marrow stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, or autologous stem cells.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease of diarthrodial joints characterized by loss of articular cartilage, deformity, and pain. The two greatest risk factors for OA are obesity and joint injury. Symptomatic OA is reported in 12% of American adults, with as many as 37% of adults demonstrating radiographic evidence of OA.OA is a growing problem due to aging population, obesity epidemic, and low intrinsic capacity for cartilage damage repair. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can present a novel paradigm to deal with the problem of tissue regeneration, cartilage damage, and OA. Their paracrine effect on surrounding tissue reduces inflammatory responses with MSCs providing regenerative cells to repair damaged cartilage. The goal of this article is to provide a review of the use of MSCs delivered directly to diarthrodial joints by intra-articular injections for orthopedic cartilage repair and symptom relief.