Long-term detection of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells after intraarticular injection in SCID mice.

Several human studies show positive signals, while research methods and sample sizes continue to develop.

• 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)

Objective Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a promising tool for cell therapy for several disorders, among them the osteoarticular diseases. For such clinical applications, intraarticular (IA) injection of MSCs may be favored for higher levels of safety and targeting of specific joints. Although the safety of intravenous (IV) administration of MSCs has been reported in a number of clinical trials, the safety and biodistribution of MSCs after IA injection have not been tested. Our objective was to assess the toxicity of clinical-grade human adipose-derived MSCs (AD-MSCs), as well as their biodistribution, after IA injection into SCID mice. Methods SCID mice received IA or IV administration of 10(6) human AD-MSCs. Several tissues were recovered at different time points and processed for histologic assessment or real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. A highly sensitive assay was used to monitor the distribution of AD-MSCs, based on amplification of human-specific Alu sequences. Results Absence of toxicity was observed after AD-MSC infusion. Alu PCR assay revealed a high sensitivity (1 human AD-MSC/10(5) murine cells), with a large linear range (1-5 × 10(4) /10(5) murine cells). Importantly, 15% of the IA-injected AD-MSCs were detectable in the joint for the first month and 1.5% of the AD-MSCs engrafted over the long term, at least 6 months. AD-MSCs were observed

Evidence level

Several human studies show positive signals, while research methods and sample sizes continue to develop.

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