Integrin α10β1-Selected Mesenchymal Stem Cells Reduce Pain and Cartilage Degradation and Increase Immunomodulation in an Equine Osteoarthritis Model.

This research investigates the potential of a specific type of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in treating osteoarthritis by alleviating pain, reducing cartilage damage, and increasing immunomodulation in horses. The results show improvements in horses treated with these MSCs, supporting their use as a future osteoarthritis treatment.

Research Methods

• Osteoarthritis was surgically induced in 17 horses. After 18 days, horses were either untreated or received an injection of integrin α10β1-selected mesenchymal stem cells (integrin α10-MSCs), which had previously shown potential for treating osteoarthritis, into their joints.
• Horses’ responses to joint stress and their lameness were monitored weekly alongside analyses of their synovial fluid (the fluid in their joints).
• The horses were euthanized 52 days after treatment and their joints were evaluated through multiple means including computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and histology (microscopic evaluation of tissues).
• The researchers traced the location of the injected integrin α10-MSCs in the joint tissues both during the treatment and after euthanasia.

Study Findings

• The researchers observed a significant improvement in lameness and response to joint stress in the horses treated with integrin α10-MSCs, which suggests an alleviation of osteoarthritis symptoms.
• Joints of the treated horses exhibited milder damage visible to the naked eye and lower scores of cartilage damage when evaluated microscopically in comparison to the untreated horses.
• Two molecular markers of inflammation, prostaglandin E2 and interleukin-10, were found to have increased in the joint fluid after injection of integrin α10-MSCs, showing an immune response.
• The integrin α10-MSCs were present the joint fluid up to 17 days post-treatment and in the articular cartilage and bone of some treated horses 52 days after treatment, showing their persistence in the joint.
• No adverse reactions, such as inflammation in the joint (referred to as “joint flare”), were observed following integrin α10-MSC injection into the joint.

Study Conclusions

• This study demonstrates that injecting integrin α10-MSCs into the joints appears to be safe, reduces pathological changes in the joint, and improves joint function in an equine model of post-traumatic osteoarthritis.
• The results suggest that integrin α10-MSCs have potential as a disease-modifying drug for the treatment of osteoarthritis.