References

To date there are over 28 publications with over 1800 patients reported who have received cell therapy to the knee joint, with longest being for 12 years.

Those publications which looked at efficacy of treatment all reported improvement in symptoms and/or cartilage regeneration (see below). Adipose tissue and SVF are now the preferred option for many Doctors.

A paper presented by Dr Michalek at the 2013 International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science meeting in New York revealed successful results of cell therapy for patients suffering from osteoarthritis, and demonstrated:

Since 2011, a total of 275 patients had been recruited and  were followed for up to 24 months to demonstrate the therapeutic potential of freshly isolated SVF cells. At the same time, one to four joints (knees and hips) were injected with SVF cells per patient. A total number of 433 joints were treated.

Within 1-2 weeks from SVF therapy 85% of patients were off the non-steroid analgesics and remained off these analgesics for at least 6 months. After 3 months from SVF therapy, at least 50% clinical improvement was recognized in 95%, at least 75% clinical improvement in 68%, and complete remission in 54% of patients, respectively. Within 1-2 weeks from SVF therapy 85% of patients were off the non-steroid analgesics and remain such for at least 6 months. No serious side effects, infection or cancer was associated with SVF cell therapy.

Semi-quantitative clinical scale evaluation and non-steroid analgesics dependence was used as measurement of the clinical effect. Prior to testing, all patients were diagnosed with stage II-IV osteoarthritis using X-ray and ultrasound, in some cases MRI was also performed to monitor the changes before and after stem cell therapy.

Clinical results and second-look arthroscopic findings after treatment with adipose-derived stem cells for knee osteoarthritis

Almost all patients showed significant improvement in all clinical outcomes at the final follow-up examination. All clinical results significantly improved at 2-year follow-up compared to 12-month follow-up (P < 0.05). Among elderly patients aged >65 years, only five patients demonstrated worsening of Kellgren-Lawrence grade. On second-look arthroscopy, 87.5 % of elderly patients (14/16) improved or maintained cartilage status at least 2 years postoperative. Moreover, none of the patients underwent total knee arthroplasty during this 2-year period.

Knee Osteoarthritis

• Successful Research with SVF Cells for Therapy of 275 Patients with Osteoarthritis
• Clinical results and second-look arthroscopic findings after treatment with adipose-derived stem cells for knee osteoarthritis
• Large safety and efficacy study on SVF treatment of 91 patients for 26 months
• Macquarie Stem Cells presents data on mode of delivery of SVF  to the 2012 IFATS conference
• Case study on treatment of the chondromalacia patellae by SVF
• Treatment of osteoarthritis with MSC 
• Successful Treatment of chondral defects with on step surgery
• A mechanism of anti-inflammatory effects on the knee 
• A safety study on knee/hip and back over 2 years for 339 patients treated with MSC 
• A safety study on 41 patients over 11 years with BMSC 

Meniscus Repair

• Successful case study on meniscus repair using autologous SVF
• Partial medial meniscectomy and MSC repair 
• Allogeneic MSC injected following partial medial meniscectomy 

Osteoarthritis of Hips

• SVF treatment case study on hips
• SVF regeneration of hips a case series

Tendons

• Comparison between bone marrow and SVF on tendons.

Cited References

1. Moseley, T.A.., M. Zhu, and M.H. Hedrick. Adipose-derived stem and progenitor cells as fillers in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Plast Reconstr Surg, 2006. 118(3 Suppl): p. 121S-128S.

2. Rodriguez, J..P., et al.,  Autologous stromal vascular fraction on therapy for rheumatoid arthritis rationale and clinical safety. Int Arch Med, 2012. 5: p. 5.

3. NIH webpage: Information on stem cells 

4. Karp, J.M. and G.S. Leng Teo, Mesenchymal stem cell homing: the devi lis in the details. Cell Stem Cell, 2009. 4(3): p. 206-16

5. MacFarlane, R.J., et al., An -inflammatory role and immunomodulation of mesenchymal stem cells in systemic joint diseases: potential for treatment. Expert Opin Ther Targets, 2013. 17(3): p. 243-54.

6. Han, J., et al., Adipose tissue is an extramedullary reservoir for functional hematopoiec stem and progenitor cells. Blood,2010. 115(5): p. 957-64

7. Zuk,  P.A., The   adipose-derived  stem  cell:  looking  back  and  looking  ahead.  Mol  Biol  Cell, 2010.  21(11):  p.  1783-7.

8. Chen, H.T., et al., Proliferation and differentiation potential of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells isolated from elderly patients with osteoporotic fractures. J Cell Mol Med,2012.16(3): p.582-93.

9. Lin RZ. Human endothelial colony-forming cells serve as trophic mediators for mesenchymal stem cell engraftment via paracrine signaling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Jun 30 

10. Riordan NH. Non-expanded adipose stromal vascular fraction cell therapy for multiple sclerosis