TABLE 2.
Studies related to UCMSCs for IVD regeneration.
| References | Type of studies | Source of stem cells | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruan et al. (2012) | In vitro | Human UCMSCs + NPCs | The increases of relative gene expression in WJCs cocultured with cell-cell contact were larger than those cocultured without contact in all ratios |
| Chon et al. (2013) | In vitro | Human UCMSCs | HUCMSCs have the potential to differentiate into cells sharing features with immature NP cells in a laminin-rich culture environment |
| Pang et al. (2014) | Clinical Trials | Human UCMSCs | The pain and function improved immediately in the 2 patients. The VAS and ODI scores decreased obviously during a 2-year follow-up period |
| Zhang et al. (2015) | In vivo | Human UCMSCs + canine NP | WJCs can be present within the IVD for a long time and expression of matrix genes, aggregated glycans, type II collagen and SOX-9 are upregulated |
| Wu et al. (2017) | In vitro | Human UCMSCs + NPCs | NP progenitor cells isolated from degenerated IVDs exhibit lower proliferation and differentiation capacity compared to UCMSCs |
| Han et al. (2018) | In vitro | Human UCMSCs + NPCs | The genes such as aggregated glycan, type II collagen, and SOX-9 were highly expressed and direct cell-cell contact between WJCs and NPCs co-cultures produced more favorable |
| Perez-Cruet et al. (2019) | In vivo | Human UCMSCs + Rabbit NP | NP-specific gene upregulation with significant improvements in histology, cellularity, sulfated glycosaminoglycan and water content |
| Chon et al. (2013) | In vitro | Human UCMSCs + ECM | UCMSCs alleviate ECMD1 degradation via the p38 MAPK pathway |
| Ross et al. (2022) | Clinical Trials | Amniotic membrane and umbilical cord particulate | At 6 months, 75% of patients had relief of pain symptoms and no adverse events were reported |
| Zeng et al. (2020) | In vitro | Human UCMSCs + NPCs | CD29, CD105, OCT4, Nanog and Tie2 expression were increased and UCMSCs rejuvenated degenerated NP progenitor cells |
| Ekram et al. (2021) | In vitro | Human UCMSCs | Downregulation of pain and inflammation genes and in vitro induction of UCMSCs into chondroprogenitors lead to better regeneration of IVD |
| Yuan et al. (2021) | In vitro | Human UCMSCs + Human NP | UCMSCs exosomes stabilizes NLRP3 Mrna through the METTL14 pathway, thereby reducing IL-1β and IL-18 levels |
| Matta et al. (2021) | In vivo | Human UCMSCs + Rat IVD | Inflammation-induced inhibition of p38 and NFκB, Smad-2/3, Erk-1/2 and Akt-dependent signaling activation, and NTG-101 treatment were superior to UCMSCs |
| Khalid et al. (2022) | In vivo | Human UCMSCs + Rat IVD | Overexpression of Sox-9 and Six-1 greatly enhanced the gene expression of transforming growth factor beta-1 gene, BMP, Sox-9, Six-1, and Aggrecan, and protein expression of Sox-9 and Six-1 |
| Buck (2019) | Clinical Trials | Amniotic membrane/umbilical cord | Pain score mean 4.9 to mean 3.5 at 4 weeks with no adverse effects |
UCMSCs, Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells; NPCs, Nucleus pulposus cells; ECM, extracellular matrix; Rat, Rabbit; WJCs, Wharton’s jelly cells; VAS, visual analog scale; ODI, oswestry disability index; BMP, bone morphogenetic protein.