Review Article
Cell-Based Therapies Used to Treat Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease: A Systematic Review of Animal Studies and Human Clinical Trials
Table 4
Clinical studies utilising cell-based therapies to treat human lumbar disc degeneration.
| Author | Clinical details | Cells transplanted | Method of cell administration | Results | Level of evidence |
| Haufe et al. [65] | 10 patients with low back pain due to degenerative disc disease | Autologous bone marrow haematopoietic precursor stem cells (HSCs). | Percutaneous injection with concurrent hyperbaric oxygen therapy | (i) No improvement in back pain in any patient (ii) 80% of patients underwent surgical intervention within 1 year | (i) 3 |
| Meisel et al. [15] | 28 patients undergoing microdiscectomy with back pain (EuroDISC study) | Autologous culture expanded disc derived chondrocytes | Percutaneous injection 12 weeks following microdiscectomy | (i) Patients receiving cell transplantation had reduced back pain at 2 years (ii) Increased MRI T2 signal of treated and adjacent discs | (i) 1 |
| Orozco et al. [22] | 10 patients with low back pain and radiological evidence of degenerative disc disease | Autologous MSCs | Percutaneous injection | (i) Clinical improvement in back pain, leg pain and disability (ii) Increased MRI T2 signal (iii) Disc height not recovered | (i) 3 |
| Yoshikawa et al. [23]
| 2 patients with back pain and sciatica, with radiological evidence of lumbar canal stenosis and disc disease | Autologous bone marrow MSCs | Percutaneous injection within collagen sponge | (i) Increased MRI T2 signal (ii) Less instability (iii) Clinical improvement in both patients | (i) 3 |
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HSCs: haematopoietic precursor stem cells, MSCs: mesenchymal stem cells.
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