Stem Cell Study
Suggests Novel
Mechanism of Action in
Knee Osteoarthritis
BY THOMAS CROCKER
AUTOLOGOUS BONE MARROW
MESENCHYMAL STROMAL
CELLS (MSCs) ARE SAFE AND
EFFICACIOUS IN TREATING
KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS (OA),
AND — IN AN APPARENTLY NOVEL
FINDING — THE Y MAY REDUCE
INFL AMMATION AND MODUL ATE
IMMUNE CELLS THAT CONTRIBUTE
TO THE CONDITION, CANADIAN
RESEARCHERS REPORT.
IN RECENT YEARS, scientists have studied MSCs as a potential treatment for
OA of the knee out of a desire to fill a therapeutic gap in the disease process,
according to Sowmya Viswanathan, PhD, Assistant Professor at the Institute
of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering and the Division of Hematology,
Department of Medicine, at the University of Toronto, and Affiliate Scientist with
the Arthritis Program, Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network.
" There wa s a lot of interest in using [MSCs] for OA patients, who rea lly
don't have a ny disease-modif ying treatments ava ilable to them for a number
of years," Viswanathan says. "They have to have symptom-modif ication injec-
tions, they ta ke ana lgesics, and then, eventua lly, when [cartilage] deteriorates,
they become ca ndidates for joint replacement surger y. But there's this rea lly
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