Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Combination with Hyaluronic Acid for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis in Rabbits

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapies may aid in the repair of articular cartilage defects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of intraarticular injection of allogeneic MSCs in an in vivo anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) model of osteoarthritis in rabbits. Allogeneic bone marrow-derived MSCs were isolated and cultured under hypoxia (1% O2). After 8 weeks following ACLT, MSCs suspended in hyaluronic acid (HA) were injected into the knees, and the contralateral knees were injected with HA alone. Additional controls consisted of a sham operation group as well as an untreated osteoarthritis group. The tissues were analyzed by macroscopic examination as well as histologic and immunohistochemical methods at 6 and 12 weeks post-transplantation. At 6 and 12 weeks, the joint surface showed less cartilage loss and surface abrasion after MSC injection as compared to the tissues receiving HA injection alone. Significantly better histological scores and cartilage content were observed with the MSC transplantation. Furthermore, engraftment of allogenic MSCs were evident in surface cartilage. Thus, injection of the allogeneic MSCs reduced the progression of osteoarthritis in vivo.

Protective effect of Shenmai injection on knee articular cartilage of osteoarthritic rabbits and IL-1β-stimulated human chondrocytes

“…An MTT assay was used to evaluate the cyto toxicity of SMI. Firstly, chondrocytes were seeded in culture medium including complete DMEM with 10% FBS and 1% Pen Strep in 96-well plates (1x10 4 /well) overnight and tested with or without 20, 10, 5, 2, 1 and 0.5% (v/v) SMI for 24 h. Then, cells were incubated with 20 µl MTT solution (5 mg/ml in phosphate-buffered saline) for 4 h at 37˚C. Each well was administered 150 µl dimethyl sulfoxide once the supernatant was removed by Finnpipette (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.).…”

“…Its estimated prevalence is 35% among people aged 50-59 years, and 55% for people over 70 years of age (2), while the lifetime risk for KOA is 45% (3). In addition, because of the limited capacity of articular cartilage for self-repair and the growing aging population, the incidence of KOA is increasing in many countries (4), which makes KOA a substantial burden for societies. Clinical KOA is not one single disease, but a final outcome secondary to a number of predisposing factors, notably age, altered biomechanics, deficient sex hormones, joint trauma and obesity.…”

“…All 18 rabbits underwent surgery; 12 rabbits were used as the ACLT experimental rabbits and had KOA induced in the knee of the right hind limb, the left knee was left untreated. The ACLT rabbit model was induced as previously described (4,33). In brief, after rabbits were anesthetized with 40 mg/kg sodium pentobarbital (3%) by intravenous administration, a medial arthrotomy was performed.…”

Osteoarthritis and Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy: An Overview

“…In addition, there were control groups that consist of sham operational group and untreated OA group. The knees treated with BM-MSCs and hyaluronic acid showed less cartilage loss, fewer surface abrasions, and improved cartilage content compared with those that received injection of hyaluronic acids alone [69].…”

“…Chiang et al [69] in 2016 used allogeneic BM-MSCs mixed with hyaluronic acid to treat knee OA in an in vivo anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) in OA-induced rabbits. The study compared the knee that received injection of MSCs mixed with hyaluronic acid with the contralateral OA knee that received hyaluronic acid alone.…”