Among knee injuries, rupture of the ACL is one of the most common and devastating, with an annual incident rate estimated to range between 30 and 78 per 100,000 person-years. The ACL is key to stabilizing the knee and prevents anterior tibial translation, and allows for external rotational restraint.
It also plays an important role when it comes to sports like football, where there can be significant strain or force on this particular area of your body during certain activities such as cutting, decelerating quickly while jumping onto one foot, and more.
Treatment for an ACL tear depends on many factors like age, activity level, associated injuries, and instability or giving, but surgery is often required to restore stability and function to the knee. Physical therapy is also commonly recommended both before and after surgery to help regain strength and range of motion as well as reduce pain and swelling. Recovery can be a long process, but with proper treatment, most people are able to return to their previous level of activity.
Unfortunately, even with surgery and rehabilitation, some patients never regain full knee function and continue to experience pain and swelling. Revision surgery might be necessary for these patients, which carries its own risks and complications. Rupture of the ACL is a severe injury with far-reaching consequences.
There is a significant clinical need for effective therapies to improve the healing of anterior cruciate ligament grafts. Stem cell therapy can potentially improve clinical outcomes for ACL rupture patients. There are still many challenges that need to be addressed before these therapies can be widely used in clinics, such as developing robust and standardized protocols for isolation, expansion, and delivery of these cells.
Despite these challenges, the potential of stem cell therapies to improve ACL graft healing is excellent, and researchers are excited about their potential clinical use in the future. A study, Stem Cell Therapies In Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction, reviewed the potential of stem cell therapy in treating ACL injuries.
Results of the Study
The researchers looked into different types of stem cells such as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (bMSCs), tendon-derived stem cells (TDSCs), adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs), umbilical cord blood derived mesenchymal stem cells (UCB-MSCs), periosteum derived stem cells (PDCs), and ACL-derived stem cells. Each type of stem cell has different properties that make it better suited for different types of regeneration.
For example, bMSCs have been shown to be effective in reducing inflammation and promoting cell proliferation which makes them good at repairing tissue damage. Similarly, TDSCs have also been shown to be effective in reducing inflammation and promoting cell proliferation, but they also have the ability to differentiate into multiple cell types, which makes them good at regenerating damaged tissue.
ADSCs are also effective at reducing inflammation and promoting cell proliferation, but they also have the ability to differentiate into multiple cell types, and they are able to form new blood vessels, which makes them good at regenerating damaged tissue. PDCs are also effective at reducing inflammation and promoting cell proliferation, but they also have the ability to differentiate into multiple cell types, form new blood vessels, and are able to secrete growth factors which makes them good at regenerating damaged tissue.
UCB-MSCs are also effective at reducing inflammation and promoting cell proliferation, but they also have the ability to differentiate into multiple cell types, form new blood vessels, secrete growth factors, and are able to modulate the immune response, which makes them good at regenerating damaged tissue. Finally, iPSCs are also effective at reducing inflammation and promoting cell proliferation, but they also have the ability to differentiate into multiple cell types, form new blood vessels, secrete growth factors, modulate the immune response, and are able to regenerate any type of tissue.
The researchers concluded that nearly all stem cell types were effective in improving ACL regeneration. Given the promising results from preclinical studies, stem cell therapies are likely to play an essential role in the future treatment of ACL injuries. However, there is a lack of concrete clinical evidence.
Despite this lack of evidence, the potential for stem cell therapies to improve the lives of patients with ACL injuries is excellent. As more research is conducted and more clinical trials are completed, it is likely that the effectiveness of these therapies will be increasingly well-established.
