Adult stem cells in bone and cartilage tissue engineering.

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)

The progressive increase in life expectancy within the last century has led to the appearance of novel health related problems, some of those within the musculoskeletal field. Among the latter, one can find diseases such as osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis and bone cancer, just to mention some of the most relevant. Other related problems are those that arise from serious injuries, often leading to non-recoverable critical size defects. The therapies currently used to treat this type of diseases/injuries are based on the use of pharmaceutical agents, auto/allotransplant and synthetic materials. However, such solutions present a number of inconveniences and therefore, there is a constant search for novel therapeutic solutions. The appearance of a novel field of science called Tissue engineering brought some hope for the solution of the above mentioned problems. In this field, it is believed that by combining a 3D porous template--scaffold--with an adequate cell population, with osteo or chondrogenic potential, it will be possible to develop bone and cartilage tissue equivalents that when implanted in vivo, could lead to the total regeneration of the affected area. This ideal cell population should have a series of properties, namely a high osteo and chondrogenic potential and at the same time, should be easily expandable and maintained in cultures for long periods of time. Due

Evidence level

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

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