Therapeutic benefit of intra-articular administration of deciduous teeth stem cells in rabbit model of osteoarthritis

Abstract

© 2016 Soontaree Petchdee et al. Background and Objective: Stem cell therapy is a new treatment option for osteoarthritis. A various applications of stem cell therapy have been used for cartilage regeneration in arthritis patient. The objective of this study was to examine therapeutic effects of puppy deciduous teeth stem cells for the treatment of osteoarthritis using a rabbit model. Methodology: In this study, rabbits were subjected to perform osteoarthritis. The anterior cruciate ligament of the stifle joint was transected over 3 months in order to generate the knee osteoarthritis. Puppy deciduous teeth stem cells were intra-articularly introduced in a test group after surgically induced arthritis. Histological characteristic of stifle joint was observed at the end of each experiment for obtaining the therapeutic effects regarding the stem cell treatment. Results: Results showed an increased number of chondrocytes and the cartilaginous thickening of articular cartilage layer in the puppy deciduous teeth stem cells-injected group. Conclusion: This finding will open a marked discussion for future possibility in using deciduous teeth stem cells as an alternative procedure for osteoarthritis treatment.