Researchers in Taiwan have found that peripheral blood stem cells can be “mobilized” by injection of a special preparation of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) into rats that modeled osteoarthritis (OA). The bone marrow was stimulated to produce stem cells, leading to the inhibition of OA progression. The finding, they said, may lead to a more effective therapy for OA, a common joint disease that affects 10 percent of Americans over the age of 60.
The study will be published in a future issue of Cell Transplantation and is currently freely available on-line as an unedited early e-pub.
“Currently, OA treatment involves the use of anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics, lubricating supplements, or surgery,” said study lead author Dr. Shih-Chieh Hung of the Department of Medical Research and Education at the Taipei Veterans general Hospital in Taiwan. “Recently, hematopoietic (blood) stem cells derived from bone marrow have emerged as a potential treatment…
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