Administration of Autologous Mesenchymal Cells for the Treatment of Arthritis.

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Background Injection of autologous mesenchymal stem cells (AMSCs) as stromal vascular fraction, culture expanded adipose derived stem cells, minimally manipulated fat graft, bone marrow aspirate or cultured bone marrow MSCs, for osteo- and inflammatory arthritis have shown good clinical efficacy in many studies. Questions have been raised as to their safety despite no evidence known to us that they are unsafe when used this way. We hypothesized that AMSC injections are completely safe for the treatment of arthritis. Methods A PubMed literature search was performed to identify adverse events specifically related to the injection of autologous mesenchymal or hematopoietic stem cells into arthritic joints or intravenously. Results 2,011 reported injections were found. No stem cell specific adverse events were identified. Specifically no infections, tumorigenesis, or chondrolysis from collagenase were found. Conclusion Intra-articular injection of autologous mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of arthritis is completely safe with no stem cell specific adverse events yet documented, and no increased risk compared with other traditional treatments for arthritis.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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