The therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells in treating osteoporosis

Abstract

Osteoporosis (OP), a common systemic metabolic bone disease, is characterized by low bone mass, increasing bone fragility and a high risk of fracture. At present, the clinical treatment of OP mainly involves anti-bone resorption drugs and anabolic agents for bone, but their long-term use can cause serious side effects. The development of stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine has provided a new approach to the clinical treatment of various diseases, even with a hope for cure. Recently, the therapeutic advantages of the therapy have been shown for a variety of orthopedic diseases. However, these stem cell-based researches are currently limited to animal models; the uncertainty regarding the post-transplantation fate of stem cells and their safety in recipients has largely restricted the development of human clinical trials. Nevertheless, the feasibility of mesenchymal stem cells to treat osteoporotic mice has drawn a growing amount of intriguing attention from clinicians to its potential of applying the stem cell-based therapy as a new therapeutic approach to OP in the future clinic. In the current review, therefore, we explored the potential use of mesenchymal stem cells in human OP treatment.

Exendin‐4 enhances osteogenic differentiation of adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells through the receptor activator of nuclear factor‐kappa B and osteoprotegerin signaling pathway

“…62,63 As for the clinical applications of Ad-MSCs, there is growing number of researchers start to explore the potential use of MSCs from various sources in the treatment of osteoporosis clinically. 64,65 Previous studies showed that Ad-MSCs can enhance bone regeneration in ovariectomized mice, 66 rabbits 67 or through its capacity to differentiate down the osteogenic lineage, 68 similar to this current study. Although the clinical studies of Ad-MSCs utility in treatment of osteoporosis is still scarce, however, Ad-MSCs showed some success in treatment of microfractures, 69 bone defects 70 and osteoarthritis.…”

“…As for the clinical applications of Ad‐MSCs, there is growing number of researchers start to explore the potential use of MSCs from various sources in the treatment of osteoporosis clinically 64,65 . Previous studies showed that Ad‐MSCs can enhance bone regeneration in ovariectomized mice, 66 rabbits 67 or through its capacity to differentiate down the osteogenic lineage, 68 similar to this current study.…”

“…71 These preclinical and clinical studies clearly demonstrated the safety and efficacy of Ad-MSCs. Despite that Ad-MSCs can provide a novel therapeutic approach to various orthopedic diseases and is one of the most promising seed cells in bone tissue engineering, 65,72 more studies are still needed to explore the proper cell dosage, mode of administration and adverse reactions associated with the use of Ad-MSCs in the clinical applications.…”

Therapeutic Benefits of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Potential Mechanisms and Challenges

“… 79 However, some safety issues related to the long course of treatment cannot be ignored, such as the risk of local infection, abnormal immune responses, and the excessive accumulation of amyloid-β, in particular the development of tumor induction by chromosomal abnormalities, which cannot be completely avoided based on the MSC characteristics and the effect of external conditions. 80 …”

RRM2 regulates osteogenesis of mouse embryo fibroblasts via the Wnt/β‑catenin signaling pathway

“…In recent years, gene therapy and mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy has been developed as novel regenerative medicine treatments (9,10). MSC therapy may have a bright future in the treatment of osteoporosis (11,12). MSCs appear to be multipotent stem cells, which may self-renew and specialize in multiple directions, and they serve a vital role in tissue regeneration and regenerative medicine (9).…”