Chondrogenic Induced Adult Stem Cells for Treatment of Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) remains the leading musculoskeletal health and socioeconomic burden worldwide, causing progressive and irreversible articular cartilage damage to the joints. Cartilage has very low capacity for healing once injured. Over the years, the trend on treatment has shifted from repair to regeneration. ADSCs and BMSCs have been identified with the potentials for cartilage regeneration. We evaluated the treatment of surgically induced osteoarthritis on sheep knee via intra-articular injection of autologous chondrogenic induced ADSC and BMSC. The injected cells were tracked with PKH26 dye. Test sheep received single dose of 2x107 autologous chondrogenic induced ADSC or BMSC as 5ml injections, while controls received 5ml basal medium. After treatments, the treated joints showed regenerated new cartilages, which was confirmed by PKH26 fluorescence. Both treated groups showed improved function and their mechanical properties were comparable with the native. This treatment will serve a wide variety of cartilage injuries and osteoarthritis in young athletes and older adults. It would circumvent some limitations of ACI and allorgenic transplants.