The therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells in treating osteoporosis

• Published in: Biological research Vol. 54; no. 1; p. 42
• Main Authors: Chen, Tianning, Yang, Tieyi, Zhang, Weiwei, Shao, Jin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 20.12.2021; BioMed Central; Sociedad de Biología de Chile; BMC
• Subjects: Animal models; Animals; BIOLOGY; Bisphosphonates; Body fat; Bone (long); Bone diseases; Bone marrow; Bone mass; Bone Resorption; Cell therapy; Clinical trials; Denosumab; Extracellular matrix; Fractures; Health aspects; Hydroxyapatite; Immunosuppressive agents; Mesenchymal Stem Cells; Metabolism; Mice; Monoclonal antibodies; Obesity; Osteoporosis; Osteoporosis - therapy; Pathogenesis; Regenerative medicine; Review; Signal transduction; Stem cell research; Stem cell transplantation; Stem cells; Therapeutic potential; Transplantation; Vitamin D; Womens health; Osteoporosis; Therapeutic potential; Mesenchymal stem cells
• ISSN: 0717-6287; 0716-9760; 0717-6287
• DOI: 10.1186/s40659-021-00366-y

Osteoporosis (OP), a common systemic metabolic bone disease, is characterized by low bone mass, increasing bone fragility and a high risk of fracture. At present, the clinical treatment of OP mainly involves anti-bone resorption drugs and anabolic agents for bone, but their long-term use can cause serious side effects. The development of stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine has provided a new approach to the clinical treatment of various diseases, even with a hope for cure. Recently, the therapeutic advantages of the therapy have been shown for a variety of orthopedic diseases. However, these stem cell-based researches are currently limited to animal models; the uncertainty regarding the post-transplantation fate of stem cells and their safety in recipients has largely restricted the development of human clinical trials. Nevertheless, the feasibility of mesenchymal stem cells to treat osteoporotic mice has drawn a growing amount of intriguing attention from clinicians to its potential of applying the stem cell-based therapy as a new therapeutic approach to OP in the future clinic. In the current review, therefore, we explored the potential use of mesenchymal stem cells in human OP treatment.