Association between cellular characteristics and clinical outcomes following autologous micro-fragmented adipose tissue injection for knee osteoarthritis.

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

• 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)

Autologous micro-fragmented adipose tissue (aMFAT) has emerged as a promising orthobiologic therapy for knee osteoarthritis (KOA). However, the relationship between the cellular characteristics of aMFAT products and clinical outcomes remains unclear. This retrospective single-center study included 40 patients with symptomatic KOA (Kellgren-Lawrence grade II-III) who received a single intra-articular injection of aMFAT. Clinical outcomes were assessed using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Cytological analyses were performed in a subgroup of 14 patients, including cell viability, total nucleated cell count, viable nucleated cell load, and cell subpopulation composition. Subgroup and correlation analyses were conducted to explore associations between cellular characteristics and clinical outcomes. Significant improvements in WOMAC total and subscale scores were observed at both 3 and 6 months compared with baseline (P < 0.05). At 6 months, 97.5% of patients achieved the minimal clinically important difference. In the cytological subgroup, both cell viability and viable nucleated cell load were positively correlated with clinical improvement, with viable nucleated cell load demonstrating a stronger association (r = 0.93 vs. 0.84). Patients with higher cell load showed significantly greater and more sust

Evidence level

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

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