Stromal Vascular Fraction Therapy to Reduce Inflammation and Improve Cartilage Regeneration in Osteoarthritis Nude Rats

Aims: To evaluate the efficacy of stromal vascular fraction (SVF) in treating osteoarthritis (OA). Background: OA is a common degenerative disease, the most important manifestation of which is cartilage destruction and inflammation. The SVF is a mixed group of multiple cells extracted from adipose tissue with a certain ability to promote tissue repair. However, the biological safety and efficacy of human derived SVF in treating OA have not been confirmed. Methods: Seventy-six nude rats were used in this experiment. The rat OA model was constructed with anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT). After 4 weeks, SVF cells were injected into the joint cavity once. After 12 weeks, the experimental animals were sacrificed and decalcified sections were subjected to hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), safranine O staining, and AP-PAS staining and immunohistochemistry for inflammation markers. Results: After surgery, the knee joint swells, pain intensifies, and the joint space narrows. The results of H&E, safranine O, and AP-PAS staining showed that the cartilage tissue was damaged in the ACLT-OA group and the treatment of SVF can reduce cartilage degradation. The numbers of ADAMTS-5-, MMP-13-, and IL-1 beta-positive cells significantly decreased and type II collagen-positive cells were more frequently detected in the ACLT-OA group compared with that in the control group, the treatment of SVF can reduce inflammation. Conclusion: SVF cells can be safely used to treat OA and can both effectively reduce the progression of joint inflammation and promote cartilage regeneration.