18 Feb How Stem Cell Therapy Ease Arthritis
Arthritis is an inflammatory or degenerative condition of the joints. It often involves cartilage damage (a tissue that shields bones). Although there are many types of this degenerative condition, osteoarthritis is one of the most common types. It affects more than 130 million individuals in the world.
Stem cell therapy, in this regard, has gained traction over the years for many health disorders. And arthritis is no exception. Stem cell injection in San Francisco is a part of a new specialty referred to as regenerative medicine. The medical procedure may help patients heal dead and injured parts naturally through their own cells.
Let’s plunge into the details to determine how stem cell therapy can be an effective solution to ease arthritis.
Stem Cell Therapy for Arthritis
Medical experts consider stem cells as the wonder therapy to ease arthritis. The therapy offers promising relief from joint pain. It may also help in the growth of new cartilage and replace damaged tissues to restore joint functions.
Doctors and researchers at the San Francisco stem cell treatment center obtain Mesenchymal stem cells from patient’s umbilical cord blood and bone marrow. The cells travel to the injury site and release various degenerative factors to relieve inflammation. These may include VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), PDGF (platelet-derived growth factor), and FGF (fibroblast growth factor).
It is worth mentioning that the therapy uses undifferentiated cells to increase the number of cells. It stabilizes or turns them into any cells. These characteristics of stem cells make them potentially beneficial for conditions like arthritis. The therapy replaces worn-out and damaged tissues without undergoing painful surgery.
The cells also release several signaling molecules to encourage growth and healing by natural mature cells.
Stem Cell Therapy and Anti-Inflammatory Effects
Stem cells oppose many inflammatory molecules’ functions to improve the expression of TSG-6 and TNF-? (gene/protein 6). The protein is powerful and has several anti-inflammatory properties and functions. These properties are sufficient to reduce macrophage inflammatory signals. They tone down all the proinflammatory cascade.
When doctors expose MSCs to inflammatory molecules (lipopolysaccharide), nitric oxide, or TNF-?, the cells from damaged tissues give negative feedback and release prostaglandin (PGE2).
It causes a proinflammatory state to shift into an anti-inflammatory macrophage. There can be more mechanisms involving different proteins like stanniocalcin that oppose the tissue damage.
The current studies on stem cell therapy show that infusing MSCs (umbilical cord) can significantly improve joint functions. It can help reverse the tissue damage in patients who have rheumatoid arthritis.
However, stem cell therapies mostly use bone marrow or fat injections. They may not be the best in this condition.
Summing Up
All in all, stem cell therapy may help people with arthritis improve the growth of supporting tissues and cartilage. It can be an effective way to improve and stimulate tissue repair. The patients may also have other subtle effects, such as reduced inflammation and hyperactive immune response.
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