Effect of bone marrow-derived stem cells on chondrocytes from patients with osteoarthritis

Increasing numbers of individuals are suffering from osteoarthritis every year, and the directed intra-articular injection of bone marrow stem cells has provided a promising treatment strategy for osteoarthritis. Although a number of studies have demonstrated that intra-articular injection of bone marrow stem cells produced desirable results, the mechanism underlying this effect has not been elucidated. In the current study, the effect of bone marrow stem cells on chondrocytes from patients with osteoarthritis was observed in a co-culture system. Human chondrocytes were obtained from patients with osteoarthritis who underwent surgical procedures and bone marrow stem cells were obtained from bone marrow aspirates, and then the chondrocytes were then cultured alone or cocultured with bone marrow stem cells in 0.4-µm Transwell inserts. The differentiation and biological activity of chondrocytes in the culture system were measured, and the inflammatory factors and OA-associated markers were also measured. The results indicated that coculture with human bone marrow stem cells increases cell proliferation of chondrocytes and inhibits inflammatory activity in osteoarthritis.