New insight intocell transplantation for repairing intervertebral discs / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Current treatment of disc degeneration is limited to palliative care or active surgical intervention, but neither can it slow or reverse disease progression, nor is the long-term efficacy satisfactory. In recent years, with the continuous development of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, the use of cell therapy to repair degenerative intervertebral discs has attracted more and more researchers’ attention. OBJECTIVE: To summarize the current status of cell transplantation in the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration, and to provide theoretical basis and experimental basis for future research. METHODS: The relevant articles were retrieved from the CNKI, WanFang and PubMed databases by computer. The search time was set from January 2001 to January 2019. The keywords were “intervertebral disc degeneration, cell therapy, stem cells, cell transplantation” in Chinese and English, respectively. Articles related to stem cell treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration, especially focusing on the latest experimental and clinical research results, were included. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Degeneration of the intervertebral disc is mainly caused by the decreased vitality and quantity of nucleus pulposus cells, the reduction of proteoglycan synthesis, the dehydration of nucleus pulposus and the increase of metabolic waste. Continuous explorations on the therapeutic mechanism by which cell transplantation promotes nucleus pulposus regeneration cannot only provide a more detailed understanding of the pathogenesis and repair mechanism of intervertebral disc degeneration, but also give new strategies for the prevention and cell therapy of other related diseases.