Platelet-Rich Plasma Devices Can Be Used to Isolate Stem Cells From Synovial Fluid at the Point of Care

To assess whether point-of-care devices designed for collecting cellular components from blood or bone marrow could be used to isolate viable stem cells from synovial fluid.

Male and female patients older than 18 years old with either an acute, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury or knee osteoarthritis (OA) with a minimum estimated 20 mL of knee effusion volunteered. Ten patients with an ACL injury and 10 patients with OA were enrolled. Two milliliters of collected synovial effusion were analyzed and cultured for cellular content. The remaining fluid was combined with whole blood and processed using a buffy-coat based platelet-rich plasma (PRP) processing system. Specimens were analyzed for cell counts, colony-forming unit (CFU) assays, differentiation assays, and flow cytometry.

ACL effusion fluid contained 42.1 ± 20.7 CFU/mL and OA effusion fluid contained 65.4 ± 42.1 CFU/mL. After PRP processing, the counts in ACL-PRP were 101.6 ± 66.1 CFU/mL and 114.8 ± 73.4 CFU/mL in the OA-PRP. Cells showed tri-lineage differentiation potential when cultured under appropriate parameters. When analyzed with flow cytometry, >95% of cells produced with culturing expressed cell surface markers typically expressed by known stem cell populations, specifically CD45-, CD73+, CD29+, CD44+, CD105+, and CD90+.

Multipotent viable stem cells can be harvested from knee synovial fluid, associated with an ACL injury or OA, and concentrated with a buffy coat-based PRP-processing device.

PRP devices can be used to harvest stem cells from effusion fluids. Methods to use effusion fluid associated with an ACL injury and OA should be investigated further.