Cell type Cell source Location Injury type Cell carrier Cases ( Follow-up Description Results References CDPCs Autologous, cartilage-derived Knee AC Cartilage defects Collagen type I/III scaffold 15 12 months Compared with BMSCs, the chondrogenic potential was better Ectopic calcification and vascularization were not found in tissue biopsies of four patients. The clinical scores of all patients showed improvement; function improved and pain was relieved. 2016 [24 ] BMSCs Autologous Knee AC OA Injection 3 5 years Update of a previous study Long-term follow-up of stem cell injection showed good prognosis for patients with early-stage OA. 2016 [28 ] BMSCs Allogenic Knee AC OA Injection BMSCs: 15 12 months RCT Compared to the HA group, the function recovery and quality of regenerated cartilage are meaningfully enhanced in the BMSC group. 2015 [29 ] BMSCs Allogenic Knee AC and meniscus OA Injection Low-dose: 18 2 years Partial medial meniscectomy RCT Knee joint pain was relieved, and MRI showed meniscus regeneration in the stem cell group. 2014 [30 ] BMSCs Autologous Knee AC OA Injection 12 2 years Update of a previous study Pain was relieved after 1 year of treatment, which continued through year 2. MRI showed better quality of cartilage in year 2 compared to year 1. 2014 [31 ] BMSCs Autologous Knee AC OA Cartilage defects Injection HA + BMSCs: 28 2 years RCT high tibial osteotomy + microfracture Effectively improving both short-term clinical and cartilage repair tissue scores. 2013 [32 ] BMSCs Autologous Ankle Chondral defects Collagen membrane 25 2 years Matrix-associated stem cell transplantation Good clinical scores and no complications. 2013 [33 ] BMSCs Autologous Knee AC Cartilage defects Injection periosteal patch Microfracture + BMSCs + HA: 35 2 years Microfracture + BMSCs + HA are comparable to BMSCs + patch, but minimally invasive. 2012 [34 ] SMSCs Autologous Knee AC + meniscus Cartilage defects Arthroscopic transplantation 10 37–80 months 10% autologous human serum used to expand cells MRI scores, Lysholm score, and qualitative histology all show that SMSC transplantation is meaningful. 2015 [35 ] ADSCs Autologous Knee AC Cartilage defects Arthroscopic ADSCs + microfracture + fibrin glue: 40 2 years RCT Radiologic and KOOS pain and symptom scores show a more meaningful improvement than that of the control group. 2016 [36 ] ADSCs Autologous Knee AC OA Arthroscopic ADSCs + fibrin glue: 20 2 years Clinical and MRI scores show a significant improvement. 2016 [37 ] ADSCs Autologous Knee AC OA Injection SVF: 1,128 12–54 months No serious side effects, infection, or cancer related to SVF. 2015 [38 ] ADSCs Autologous Knee AC OA Injection 30 2 years 4.04 × 106 stem cells Effective for elderly patients with OA at the knee. 2015 [39 ] ADSCs Autologous Knee AC OA Arthroscopic ADSCs: 37 24–34 months Arthroscopic and clinical outcomes were useful for OA in both groups. However, the ADSC + fibrin glue group had better ICRS scores. 2015 [40 ] ADSCs Autologous Knee AC Early OA Arthroscopic ADSCs + fibrin glue: 49 Mean 26.7 months Patients > 60 years of age or having injury areas < 6 cm2 were not suitable for this treatment. 2015 [41 ] ADSCs Autologous Meniscus Meniscal tear Injection ADSCs + PRP + CaCl2 + HA: 1 18 months Pain was alleviated. MRI at 3 months after treatment showed that the meniscal tear had almost disappeared. 2014 [42 ] ADSCs Autologous Knee AC OA Arthroscopic Knee: 37 24–34 months The factors affecting the repair result were mostly large injury area and high BMI. The second arthroscopic view showed 76% nonregular repair. 2014 [43 ] ADSCs Autologous Talus Osteochondral lesions Injection Marrow stimulation: 26 21.9 months Marrow stimulation with SVF group showed better results than the marrow stimulation alone group. 2014 [44 ] ADSCs Autologous Knee AC OA Injection I: low-dose (3), medium-dose (3), high-dose (3) 6 months Low dose: 1 × 107 Medium dose: 5 × 107 High dose: 1 × 108 No adverse events. The high-dose group showed better results than the other groups. 2014 [45 ] ADSCs Autologous Knee AC OA Injection ADSCs + PRP: 91 30 months Safety of autologous SVF and percutaneous local injections was demonstrated by MRI and telephone follow-up. 2013 [46 ] ADSCs Autologous Knee AC OA Injection SVF + PRP: 18 24–26 months ADSCs of the infrapatellar fat pad were useful for relieving articular pain and improving knee joint function. 2013 [47 ] ADSCs Autologous Talus Osteochondral lesions Injection Microfracture: 30 21.8 months Among patients above 50 years of age, the effect of marrow stimulation + ADSCs was better than marrow stimulation alone. >109 mm2 lesion size and existing subchondral cyst showed better regeneration results. 2013 [48 ] ADSCs Autologous Knee AC OA Injection ADSCs + PRP: 25 12 months 1.89 × 106 ADSCs, 3 mL PRP ADSCs of the infrapatellar fat pad were useful for releasing articular pain and improving knee joint function. 2012 [49 ] PBSCs Autologous Knee AC Chondral lesions Open surgery 1 7.5 years Periosteal flap + patellofemoral realignment CT and MRI showed better results. Eight months after the surgery, the second arthroscopy showed that the new-growth cartilage had a smooth surface. The patient returned to practicing Taekwondo. 2014 [50 ] PBSCs Autologous Knee AC Early OA Injection 5 6 months PBSCs + HA + growth factor + microfracture No adverse events and all clinical scores improved. 2013 [51 ] PBSCs Autologous Knee AC Chondral defects Arthroscopic Microfracture + HA: 25 2 years RCT PBSC group has a better quality of newborn cartilage than the control group on histological and MRI assessments. 2013 [52 ] PBSCs Autologous Knee AC Chondral defects Open surgery 52 6 years Collagen membrane PBSCs are an effective way to repair large cartilage lesions. This method can be used as an alternative to ACI. 2012 [53 ]
