MedWire News: Scientists have carried out a detailed investigation into the properties of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and confirmed their potential to repair tissue damage resulting from rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
"This is the first study characterizing bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in patients with RA under defined culture conditions in the context of potential clinical use for the repair of tissue injury associated with RA," write Helen Papadaki (University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece) and co-workers in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Papadaki and colleagues studied mesenchymal stem cells isolated from 26 patients with RA and compared them to cells from 21 age- and sex-matched individuals who were generally healthy.
The researchers discovered that the frequency, differentiation potential, survival, immunophenotypic characteristics, and protein profile was similar in stem cells from RA patients and healthy control individuals.
However, the cells from RA patients had significantly impaired clonogenic and proliferative potential, and unusual expression patterns for genes associated with cell adhesion and cell cycle progression after the early stages of the cell cycle.
Of note, the use of disease-modifying anti-inflammatory drugs including methotrexate, corticosteroids, anti-cytokines, and biological agents was not significantly related to the impairment of clonogenesis and proliferation in the stem cells.
Notwithstanding the defects noted by the researchers in cells from RA patients, these findings should encourage the use of autologous mesenchymal stem cells for the repair of cartilage and bone damage associated with long-standing RA, they conclude.
http://www.medwire-news.md/437/75404/Bone_Health/Mesenchymal_stem_cells_show_potential_for_RA_repair.html
Copyright ArthritisInsight.com