Table 1.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria	Exclusion criteria
1. 18 < Age < 65	1. BMI $>$ 35 kg/m2
2. Kellgren–Laurence grading: II or III	2. Immune deficiency
3. VAS Index Score $\ge 3$	3. Renal failure (Cr $>$ 2 mg/dL)
4. Knee joint alignment $<$ 30 degrees	4. Hepatitis B, C, HIV, HTLV1-2, CMV infections
5. Informed consent	5. Coagulopathy or using anticoagulant agents
	6. Liver malfunction (ALT or AST $>$ 100 IU/L)
	7. Uncontrolled diabetes (HbA1c > 8.5%)
	8. Heart diseases (EF < 45%)
	9. Allergy to proteins or cultured substances
	10. Pregnancy or lactation
	11. Malignancy
	12. Addiction
	13. Concurrent corticosteroid therapy
	14. Participating in another clinical trial
	15. Unwillingness to cooperate in the study and follow-ups

VAS visual analogue scale, BMI body mass index, Cr creatinine, ALT alanine aminotransferase, AST aspartate aminotransferase, HbA1c hemoglobin A1c, EF ejection fraction, CMV cytomegalovirus, HTLV1-2 human T-lymphotropic virus, HIV human immunodeficiency virus