RESEARCH ARTICLE
Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Articular Cartilage Repair: Clinical Studies and Future Direction
Shahid Punwar 1, Wasim S Khan*, 2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2011Volume: 5
Issue: Suppl 2
First Page: 296
Last Page: 301
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-5-296
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001105010296
Article History:
Received Date: 3/2/2011Revision Received Date: 24/2/2011
Acceptance Date: 21/3/2011
Electronic publication date: 28/7/2011
Collection year: 2011

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Cartilage is frequently injured but shows little capacity for repair. Current treatment options include the use of procedures that stimulate repair through the stimulation of subchondral bone marrow and result in the formation of fibrocartilage. There is considerable interest in the use of cell-based treatment strategies and there are limited studies describing the use of mesenchymal stem cells for cartilage repair with promising early results. This paper reviews the current treatment strategies for articular cartilage, describes use of mesenchymal stem cells for articular cartilage repair along with the results of clinical studies, and describes the future direction that these strategies are likely to take.