Stem cell therapy for degenerative disc disease.
review · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 22593830.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1155/2012/961052 and PMC identifier 3347696.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Low back pain is widely recognized as one of the most prevalent pathologies in the developed world. In the United States, low back pain is the most common health problem for adults under the age of 50, resulting in significant societal and personal costs. While the causes of low back pain are myriad, it has been significantly associated with intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. Current first-line therapies for IVD degeneration such as physical therapy and spinal fusion address symptoms, but do not treat the underlying degeneration. The use of tissue engineering to treat IVD degeneration provides an opportunity to correct the pathological process. Novel techniques are currently being investigated and have shown mixed results. One major avenue of investigation has been stem cell injections. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have shown promise in small animal models, but results in larger vertebrates have been mixed.