Stem Cell Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis and Cartilage …

Home Prolotherapy News Stem Cell Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Regeneration

In this article Ross Hauser, MD discusses research that showsthat stem cell injection therapywill aid in the repair ofarticular cartilageandmeniscus tears and that the treatment relieves symptoms of stiffness,pain, disability, and inability to walk as commonly reported by our patients.

Stem Cell Knee Repair: Your surgeons may be anxiously waiting the ability and training to offer stem cellduring surgery- here is the proof: Editorial January 2016 The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery a publication of theArthroscopy Association of North America.

we are believers in stem cell therapy and stem cells have substantial potential to allow 21st century physicians and surgeons to achieve unprecedented tissue healing and repair.

Again, additional research is needed to prove the long-term outcomes and the actual cost to society of stem cell treatment for focal defects of the knee. We do believe that it is only a matter of time before the harvesting and growth of stem cells will become cost-effective and commercially available and will be added to our treatment options for restoration of articular cartilage.1

Doctors have long noted that there are limited treatment options for tissue restoration and the prevention of degenerative and osteoarthritic changes in the knee.

This is why stem cell therapy for knee osteoarthritis has generated so much excitement in the medical community. it is the unprecedented tissue healing and repair A recent study proclaimed:

This agrees with another study into the safety of stem cell injectionsinto the knee, the ability of stem cells to promote meniscus regeneration following partial meniscectomy, and the effects of stem cells on osteoarthritic changes in the knee were investigatedwith results that support the study of human mesenchymalstem cellsfor knee-tissue regeneration.3

The educated patient will also find that not all research is favorable to stem cell therapy at this time due to great deal of heterogeneity in treatment methods,4the great variety of ways stem cell therapy is performed, some variations are not as potent as others, and the inability to come up with a gold standard platform to conduct clinical trials.

Seemingly the same issues that critics of Prolotherapy and Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy point to. Variations in treatments and inability to conduct true controlled studies because of the nature of the treatment.5

One such variation is being led by researchers in China who have explored replacing apoptotic chondrocytes (dead or dying cartilage cells) in the superficial cartilage by injecting mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) intra-articularly. This effect was termed as bio-resurfacing.6

The tendons, muscles and ligaments of the knee are centered around the articular cartilage which is very important for flexibility and stabilization of the knee that allows it to bend and move freely about. This strong point of the joint too becomes its downfall. The loosening of ligaments is what brings about instability of the knee. This instability allows abnormal wear and tear on the cartilage, resulting in swelling of the joint and possibly overgrowth of the bone in attempt to stabilize the joint (this is known as osteoarthritis).Degeneration of or damage to this cartilage can lead to pain in the knee.

In the Stem cell therapy procedure for knee osteoarthritis, bone marrow stem cells (in many cases) are drawn from a patient and injected into the patients knee with the hope of repairing cartilage and bone damage typical of a knee with severe osteoarthritis. The procedure is simple in concept, inject stem cells, heal knee.

The latest scientific literature is telling us yes and that is why researchers and doctors arefocusing on alternative methods for cartilage preservation and repair. Cell-based therapy has become a key focus of tissue engineering research to achieve functional replacement of articular cartilage.7

In examining the latest research, doctors acknowledge thatanew strategy is required in treating extensive meniscus injuries anddefects. This new strategy is Mesenchymalstem cells(MSCs). The doctors found (as we have found)repetitive injections of stem cells promoted meniscus regeneration and provided protection at the medial femoral articular cartilage.8

In a year long follow up, doctors followed up previously published research with new data that shows stem cell therapy regrows cartilage in animal models and that their 2015 research showed that one year later they say that the stem cell therapy tissue engineered cartilages provided evidence of functional recoveries associated to the structural regenerations, and their mechanical properties were comparable with the native cartilage.9,10,11

New research suggests thatpart of the healing processof stem cell therapy is the treatments ability to stimulate hyaluronic acid production.Hyaluronic Acid is a fluidin your knee thathelps lubricate and cushion the joint. It occurs naturally in the joint hyaluronic acid injections have been widely used in osteoarthritis treatment.12

Based on editorials and accompanying studies like those above, it is becoming more and more apparent that stem cell injection therapy will be the orthopedic treatment of choice for a new generation of orthopedists. Why the confidence in saying this? Because stem cell therapy is becoming thoroughly embraced by the surgical community. In this studys abstract, doctors make an amazing statement.

A new bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells technique has been developed for the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the knee .

Thirty patients with osteochondral lesions underwent arthroscopic one-step procedure. The bone marrow was harvested from the patients posterior iliac crest and arthroscopically implanted with a scaffold into the lesion site. . .Control MRI and bioptic samples showed an osteochondral regeneration of the lesion site. The one-step technique appears to be a good and reliable option for treatment of OLK at three years of follow-up.13

Incredible. A new technique has been developed surgery! Albeit it is a new technique to actually reduce the number of surgeries that might be need to offer stem cell treatments.

For the Comprehensive Prolotherapy skeptic, can there be more compelling evidence of the confidence in stem cell therapy as a major tool in the regeneration of cartilage and damaged tissue than the need to develop proper surgical interventions?

More research most (surgical) approaches for delivering growth factors and stem cells have not been designed for dense connective tissues such as tendon. Therefore, we developed a scaffold capable of delivering growth factors and cells in a surgically manageable form for tendon repair.14In other words, in surgery they could not pinpointthe delivery of the growth factors. This may have lead to why surgeons developing injection techniques.

Writing in the medical journal titled Arthroscopy, researcher surgeons found that the results of their study showed: intra-articular injection of infrapatellar fat pad-derived mesenchymal stem cells is effective for reducing pain and improving knee function in patients being treated for knee osteoarthritis. 15But a surgery was still involved, the stem cells from the kneecap area was harvested at the arthroscopic lateral portal site after the patient underwent arthroscopic debridement.

St
em Cell Therapy is, in our opinion, an alternative to surgery because most times the injections work better than the surgical introduction of stem cells.

In research published by theJournal of Bone and Joint Surgery, doctors have found that asingle stem cell injection following meniscus knee surgery may provide knee painrelief and aid in meniscus regrowth. In this study,patients received a single injection of adult stem cells following the surgical removal of all or part of a torn meniscus. These patients reported a significant reduction in pain. Further, some meniscal tissue regrew! Up to15 percent increase in meniscal volume at one year. There was no additional increase in meniscal volume at year two. (Comment: Maybe they should have given more than one injection.)

That question was seemingly answered in theAmerican Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons press release.The results of this study suggest that mesenchymal stem cells have the potential to improve the overall condition of the knee joint, said Dr. Vangsness (a study author). I am very excited and encouraged by the results. With the success of a single injection, It begs the question: What if we give a series of injections?16

Again, we have to ask, if it works so well in rebuilding meniscal tissue, why have the surgery in the first place? It does say multiple injections may benefit the patient more. It seems we have written very often that single injections are not Prolotherapy; single PRP injections are not PRP treatments; and now single Stem Cell injections are probably more effective if given more often? Sounds like Comprehensive Prolotherapy performed at Caring Medical, ie multiple injections of various and supportive elements to fit the individual case of the the patient.

Please see our companion articles on this website for more detailed discussion on the use of stem cell therapy for meniscus injury, also on the use of PRP injections in meniscus surgery and after surgery,

1. Wetzler, Merrick J. Editorial Commentary: Doc, Can You Inject Stem Cells in My Knee? Arthroscopy , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , 1102.Orozco L, Munar A, Soler R, Alberca M, Soler F, Huguet M, Sents J, Snchez A, Garca-Sancho J. Treatment of knee osteoarthritis with autologous mesenchymal stem cells: a pilot study. Transplantation. 2013 Jun 27;95(12):1535-41. doi: 10.1097/TP.0b013e318291a2da.

3.Vangsness CT Jr, Farr J 2nd, Boyd J, Dellaero DT, Mills CR, LeRoux-Williams M, et al. Adult human mesenchymal stem cells delivered via intra-articular injection to the knee following partial medial meniscectomy: a randomized, double-blind, controlled study. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2014 Jan 15;96(2):90-8. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.M.00058.

4.Wolfstadt JI, Cole BJ, Ogilvie-Harris DJ, Viswanathan S, Chahal J. Current concepts: the role of mesenchymal stem cells in the management of knee osteoarthritis. Sports Health. 2015 Jan;7(1):38-44. doi: 10.1177/1941738114529727.

5.Uth K, Trifonov D. Stem cell application for osteoarthritis in the knee joint: A minireview. World J Stem Cells. 2014 Nov 26;6(5):629-36. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v6.i5.629.

6. Yang X, Zhu TY, Wen LC, Cao YP1, Liu C, Cui YP, Meng ZC, Liu H. Intraarticular Injection of Allogenic Mesenchymal Stem Cells has a Protective Role for the Osteoarthritis. Chin Med J (Engl). 2015 20th Sep;128(18):2516-2523. doi: 10.4103/0366-6999.164981.

7.Mazor M, Lespessailles E, Coursier R, Daniellou R, Best TM, Toumi H. Mesenchymal stem-cell potential in cartilage repair: an update.J Cell Mol Med. 2014 Oct 29. doi: 10.1111/jcmm.12378. [Epub head of print].

8. Hatsushika D, Muneta T, Nakamura T, et al. Repetitive allogeneic intraarticular injections of synovial mesenchymal stem cells promote meniscus regeneration in a porcine massive meniscus defect model. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2014 May 2. pii: S1063-4584(14)01066-8. doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2014.04.028. [Epub ahead of print]

9. Ude CC, et al. Cartilage regeneration by chondrogenic induced adult stem cells in osteoarthritic sheep model. PLoS One. 2014 Jun 9;9(6):e98770. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0098770. eCollection 2014.

10.Ude CC, et al.Improved functional assessment of osteoarthritic knee joint after chondrogenically induced cell treatment. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2015 Aug;23(8):1294-306. doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2015.04.003. Epub 2015 Apr 14.

11. Mehrabani D, Babazadeh M, Tanideh N, Zet al. The Healing Effect of Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Full-thickness Femoral Articular Cartilage Defects of Rabbit. Int J Organ Transplant Med. 2015;6(4):165-175. Epub 2015 Nov 1.

12. Antonioli E, Piccinato CA, Nader HB, Cohen M, Goldberg AC, Ferretti M. Modulation of Hyaluronan Synthesis by the Interaction between Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Osteoarthritic Chondrocytes. Stem Cells Int. 2015;2015:640218. doi: 10.1155/2015/640218. Epub 2015 Jul 26.

13.Buda R, Vannini F, Cavallo M, Baldassarri M, Luciani D, Mazzotti A, Pungetti C, Olivieri A, Giannini S. One-step arthroscopic technique for the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the knee with bone-marrow-derived cells: three years results. Musculoskelet Surg. 2013 Feb 19. [Epub ahead of print]

14. Manning CN, Schwartz AG, Liu W, Xie J, Havlioglu N, Sakiyama-Elbert SE, Silva MJ, Xia Y, Gelberman RH, Thomopoulos S. Acta Biomater. 2013 Feb 13. pii: S1742-7061(13)00065-2. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2013.02.008. [Epub ahead of print]

15. Koh YG, Jo SB, Kwon OR, Suh DS, Lee SW, Park SH, Choi YJ.Mesenchymal Stem Cell Injections Improve Symptoms of Knee Osteoarthritis. Arthroscopy. 2013 Jan 29. pii: S0749-8063(12)01884-1. doi: 10.1016/j.arthro.2012.11.017. [Epub ahead of print].

16.Stem Cell therapy following Meniscal Surgeryhttp://newsroom.aaos.org/media-resources/Press-releases/stem-cell-therapy-following-meniscus-knee-surgery-may-reduce-pain-restore-meniscus.htm

Page updatedBW1.19.2016

hyaluronic acid, knee debridement, knee osteoarthritis, knee replacement, meniscectomy, Meniscus surgery, Meniscus tears, osteochondral lesions

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