Intra-articular Stem Cell Injections tied to Pain and Cartilage status improvement in knee osteoarthritis

Dr Yang et al. and colleagues, in their recent study, concluded that Among Knee Osteoarthritis patients, single or multiple intra-articular injections of autologous Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) or Adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction (ADSVF) show pain relief and improved cartilage status with safety in the short term in the absence of adjuvant therapy. This study is published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

Researchers searched several databases, including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov, for relevant studies. They included RCTs involving autologous ASCs or ADSVF for knee osteoarthritis treatment, comparing them to placebo or hyaluronic acid. The study evaluated the efficacy of single and multiple intra-articular injections of ASCs and ADSVF for knee OA treatment.

Key findings from the study are:

· seven RCTs were analyzed in this study.

· Compared to the control group, both single and multiple intra-articular injections of ASCs or ADSVF demonstrated superiority in relieving pain (short term) and improved function.

· MRI assessment showed improvement in cartilage condition compared to the control group.

Concluding further, they said that both single and multiple injections of ASCs or ADSVF improved pain and function in patients with OA. The subgroup analysis revealed that single and multiple injections significantly improved pain relief and cartilage status of osteoarthritic knee joints.

The limitations of this study are that the literature included on uniform assessment criteria for MRI is not extensive enough to affect the accuracy, limited generalizability of the results, bias to the final results due to differences in sample sizes, heterogeneity in injection dose, injection concentration, rehabilitation modality, and insufficient long-term follow-up studies.

Reference:

Yang, Y., Lan, Z., Yan, J. et al. Effect of intra-knee injection of autologous adipose stem cells or mesenchymal vascular components on short-term outcomes in patients with knee osteoarthritis: an updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arthritis Res Ther 25, 147 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13075-023-03134-3