| dc.description.abstract | Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease
characterised by pain, stiffness and a loss of joint function. Emerging research
has reported on the therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)
therapy in OA therapy symptomatically. This review aims to evaluate the
effectiveness of MSC therapy in the treatment of OA on a histological basis.
Method: This scoping review was conducted following the PRISMA-ScR
guidelines. The identification and screening process lasted for a month between
November and December 2024. Six electronic databases were utilised to obtain
data articles including ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, ProQuest, EBSCO, Medline,
and Cochrane. The keywords used to identify the data in these databases were
determined using the PICO framework and then organised using the Boolean
system to generate the following search terms; (“Osteoarthritis” OR
“Degenerative arthritis”) AND “Mesenchymal stem cell” AND (“Cartilage repair”
OR “Cartilage regeneration”).
Result: Twenty-six of 3,184 original articles met the inclusion criteria with a
majority reporting significantly improved cartilage repair after MSC therapy. Of
those of twenty-six articles, twenty-one reported improved cartilage density,
specifically increased chondrocyte volume, while six articles reported an
improved chondrocyte characteristic with a decrease of apoptosis and
hypertrophic chondrocytes. Fourteen articles reported improvements in
extracellular matrix composition by increased COL2 and decreased COL1 levels.
Additionally, seven articles reported on the immunomodulatory properties of
MSCs, either by decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokines or increasing
anti-inflammatory cytokines. Only one of twenty-six studies reported an
insignificant outcome between the MSC therapy group and the control group.
Conclusion: MSC therapy displayed promising histological benefits for cartilage
repair in OA through various mechanisms. Further studies are recommended to
optimise administration methods, especially in multifactorial conditions such as
systemic inflammation. | en_US |
