Combination of intra-articular autologous activated peripheral blood stem cells with growth factor addition/ preservation and hyaluronic acid in conjunction with arthroscopic microdrilling mesenchymal cell stimulation Improves quality of life and regenerates articular cartilage in early osteoarthritic knee disease.

BACKGROUND: Trauma or osteoarthritis (OA) create articular cartilage defects that cannot efficiently heal, thus leading to significant long-term disability. Failed conservative treatment in cartilage diseases is a known condition that necessitates repair attempts but current methods are inadequate. Recent studies in OA animal models and humans, showed articular cartilage regeneration following combinations of drilling, adult stem cells, and intra-articular hyaluronic acid. OBJECTIVE: In the present series, the authors evaluated the combination of repeated intra-articular (IA) autologous activated peripheral blood stem cells (AAPBSC) with growth factor addition/preservation (GFAP) along with hyaluronic acid (HA) in conjunction with arthroscopic microdrilling mesenchymal cell stimulation (MCS) in early osteoarthritic knee disease that failed conservative treatment. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Four women and one man (median age 56, range 52-59 years) that failed conservative treatment were enrolled. Arthroscopic MCS was performed once in all patients with subsequent IA injection of AAPBSC with GFAP along with IA-HA intra-operatively, repeated at days 7 and 14. The patients were evaluated by WOMAC and KOO scores at baseline, one, and six months. Cancellous bone biopsies were performed to investigate cell attachment, proliferation, and differentiation by electron microscopy and histological staining. RESULTS: All patients improved significantly in WOMAC and KOO scores at one and six months compared to baseline. No adverse effects were seen during the AAPBSC harvesting, arthroscopy and/or IA injections. One month post-surgery, all pain medications could be withdrawn. Electron microscopy scanning revealed cell attachment and proliferation while histological analysis demonstrated that the cell layer on the cancellous scaffold showed increased proteoglycan and glycosaminoglycan content indicating hyaline cartilage presence. CONCLUSION: The combination of intra-articular (IA) autologous activated peripheral blood stem cells (AAPBSC) with growth factor addition/preservation (GFAP) along with hyaluronic acid (HA) in conjunction with arthroscopic microdrilling mesenchymal cell stimulation (MCS) resulted in Quality of Life improvements measured by WOMAC and KOO scores and succeeded in regenerating articular cartilage in early osteoarthritic knee disease that failed conservative treatment. Further controlled studies are warranted to confirm the above results in larger groups.

Hepatitis B virus genotypes and hepatocellular carcinoma in Thailand.

AIM: The role of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes on the clinical features and prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is currently unknown. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the distribution of HBV genotypes and their clinical relevance in Thai patients. METHODS: HBV genotypes were determined by PCR-RFLP in stored sera of 93 asymptomatic carriers, 103 patients with chronic hepatitis, 60 patients with cirrhosis and 76 patients with HCC. The clinical data were analyzed in relation to the HBV genotype. RESULTS: HBV genotypes C and B were predominant in Thailand, accounting for 73% and 21%, respectively. The distributions of genotypes B and C were similar in HCC patients compared to the other groups. Genotype C was significantly more common in HCC patients who were under 40 years old than genotype B (18% vs 0%, P = 0.03), but was significantly less common in patients older than 60 years (26% vs 56.5%, P = 0.01). The positive rate of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) in patients with genotype C was significantly higher than that in patients with genotype B (71.6% vs 44.4%, P = 0.03 in chronic hepatitis; 56.8% vs 11.1%, P = 0.01 in cirrhosis). There were no differences between HCC patients with genotypes B and C regarding tumor staging by CLIP criteria and the overall median survival. Multivariate analyses showed that HBV genotype was not an independent prognostic factor of survival in HCC patients. CONCLUSION: Patients with genotype C had a higher positive rate of HBeAg and exhibited earlier progression of cirrhosis and HCC than those with genotype B. However, there were no differences in the risk of developing HCC and its prognosis between patients with these genotypes.

Clinical and virological differences between hepatitis B virus genotypes B and C: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: The pathogenic significance of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes is undefined. The aim of this study was to elucidate the differences in clinical and virologicalfeatures between HBV genotypes B and C by conducting a case-control study in Thai patients who were chronically infected with the virus. PATIENTS AND METHOD: HBV genotyping was assessed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method in stored sera of 470 patients with chronic hepatitis B. Among these, 65 patients with HBV genotype B were enrolled and matched individually to those with HBV genotype C according to sex, age, and distribution of liver disease which included asymptomatic carrier, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. RESULTS: Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was significantly higher in patients with genotype C than those with genotype B. Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) was significantly more frequent in genotype C than genotype B patients (50.8 and 30.8%, respectively, p=0.03), but the levels of HBV DNA were comparable between them. Among patients who were positive for HBeAg, the mean age of genotype C patients tended to be older than genotype B patients. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated that patients with HBV genotype C had a significantly higher rate of HBeAg, experienced delayed HBeAg seroconversion and exhibited more severe liver disease compared to those with genotype B.