Accentuating the sources of mesenchymal stem cells as cellular therapy for osteoarthritis knees—a panoramic review

Abstract

The large economic burden on the global health care systems is due to the increasing number of symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA) knee patients whereby accounting for greater morbidity and impaired functional quality of life. The recent developments and impulses in molecular and regenerative medicine have paved the way for inducing the biological active cells such as stem cells, bioactive materials, and growth factors towards the healing and tissue regenerative process. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) act as a minimally invasive procedure that bridges the gap between pharmacological treatment and surgical treatment for OA. MSCs are the ideal cell-based therapy for treating disorders under a minimally invasive environment in conjunction with cartilage regeneration. Due to the worldwide recognized animal model for such cell-based therapies, global researchers have started using the various sources of MSCs towards cartilage regeneration. However, there is a lacuna in literature on the comparative efficacy and safety of various sources of MSCs in OA of the knee. Hence, the identification of a potential source for therapeutic use in this clinical scenario remains unclear. In this article, we compared the therapeutic effects of various sources of MSCs in terms of efficacy, safety, differentiation potential, durability, accessibility, allogenic preparation and culture expandability to decide the optimal source of MSCs for OA knee

Cell-based therapies have disease-modifying effects on osteoarthritis in animal models. A systematic review by the ESSKA Orthobiologic Initiative. Part 1: adipose tissue-derived cell-based injectable therapies

“…The assumption underlying the use of cell-based orthobiologics is closely related to the properties and functions of the cell type used, which must have the ability to determine a specific action at the target site [4]. From this perspective, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are ideal candidates for the treatment of damaged tissues given their restorative and pro-regenerative properties [5]. These cells can be found in most of the vascularized tissues, being a subtype of pericytes with pro-regenerative properties, and in particular in adipose tissue, bone marrow, and foetal annexes [6][7][8].…”

Immunomodulatory Actions of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) in Osteoarthritis of the Knee

“…Cytotherapy or cell-based therapies have been developed in the past decade for management of early knee osteoarthritis by utilizing the stem cells harvested from various donor tissues such as bone marrow, adipose tissue, placenta, synovium, dental tissues, peripheral blood, and rarely from embryonal tissues [10,11]. In particular, mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC)-based cellular therapy demonstrate a promising tool for regenerating the degenerated cartilage in the osteoarthritic knee [12][13][14][15]. A large number of published literature states that the regenerative capacity of MSCs is due to paracrine factors released by MSCs rather than the pluripotent nature of MSCs to differentiate into cells of the desired tissue [16,17].…”

Evolution of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy as an Advanced Therapeutic Medicinal Product (ATMP)—An Indian Perspective

“…MSCs are multipotent stem cells that have a comparable immunophenotypic profile and are found in different anatomical sites such as bone marrow, adipose tissue, the synovium and the umbilical cord [18]. They have the ability to adhere to plastic surfaces, are characterized by having fibroblast morphology, and can differentiate in vitro into osteoblasts, adipocytes and chondrocytes [19][20][21].…”