Regenerative Engineering for Knee Osteoarthritis Treatment： Biomaterials and Cell-Based Technologies

Knee osteoarthritis （OA） is the most common form of arthritis worldwide. The incidence of this disease is rising and its treatment poses an economic burden. Two early targets of knee OA treatment include the predominant symptom of pain, and cartilage damage in the knee joint. Current treatments have been beneficial in treating the disease but none is as effective as total knee arthroplasty （TKA）. However, while TKA is an end-stage solution of the disease, it is an invasive and expensive procedure, Therefore, innovative regenerative engineering strategies should be established as these could defer or annul the need for a TKA. Several biomaterial and cell-based therapies are currently in development and have shown early promise in both preclinical and clinical studies. The use of advanced biomaterials and stem cells independently or in conjunction to treat knee OA could potentially reduce pain and regenerate fo- cal articular cartilage damage. In this review, we discuss the pathogenesis of pain and cartilage damage in knee OA and explore novel treatment options currently being studied, along with some of their limitations.

膝关节骨性关节炎(OA)是世界上最常见的关节炎,其发病率逐年上升。不断上涨的治疗费用给患者带来了经济负担。膝关节OA治疗的两个早期干预目标是减轻膝关节的疼痛和关节软骨的损害。目前用于治疗膝关节OA的方法虽取得了一定疗效,但仍没有一种方法可达到全膝关节置换术(TKA)的治疗效果。TKA主要应用于治疗末期膝关节OA,其缺点是有手术侵入性和手术费用昂贵。因而,应该重视创新性的再生技术,以推迟甚至消除患者对TKA的需求。一些基于生物材料和细胞的疗法目前正处于发展阶段,并已在临床前和临床研究方面取得了初步进展。单独或联合应用先进的生物材料和干细胞治疗膝关节OA可减轻疼痛,使损害的关节软骨再生。在此综述中,我们讨论了膝关节OA疼痛和软骨损害的发病机制,并探讨了该病的最新治疗策略及其局限性。