Abstract
The beneficial effects of HBO in inflammatory processes make it an attractive type of treatment for chronic arthritis. In addition, the effects of combination therapy based on adipose stem cells and HBO on OA progression have not been fully investigated. The current study explored the efficacy of intra-articular injection of allogeneic adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) combined with hyperbaric oxygenation treatment (HBO) in a rat osteoarthritis (OA) model. The rat OA model was induced by intra-articular injection of monoiodoacetate (MIA) and 7 days after application of MIA rats were divided into five groups: healthy control (CTRL), osteoarthritis (OA), ADMSCs (ADS), the HBO+ADS21day and HBO+ADS28day groups. A single dose of 1 × 106 allogeneic ADMSCs suspended in sterile saline was injected into the knee joint alone or in combination with HBO treatment. Rats were sacrificed at 3 or 4 weeks after MIA injection. Treatment outcomes were evaluated by radiographic, morphological and histological analysis and by specific staining of articular cartilage. We also measured the level of inflammatory and pro/antioxidative markers. We confirmed that combined treatment of ADMSCs and HBO significantly improved the regeneration of cartilage in the knee joint. Rtg score of knee joint damage was significantly decreased in the HBO+ADS21day and HBO+ADS28day groups compared to the OA. However, the positive effect in the HBO+ADS28day group was greater than the HBO+ADS21day group. The articular cartilage was relatively normal in the HBO+ADS28day group, but moderate degeneration was observed in the HBO+ADS21day compared to the OA group. These findings are in line with the histopathological results. A significantly lower level of O2-. was observed in the HBO+ADS28day group but a higher NO level compared to the HBO+ADS21day group. Moreover, in the HBO+ADS28day group significantly higher concentrations of IL-10 were observed but there was no significant difference in proinflammatory cytokine in serum samples. These results indicate that a single intra-articular injection of allogeneic ADMSCs combined with HBO efficiently attenuated OA progression after 28 days with greater therapeutic effect compared to alone ADMSCs or after 3 weeks of combined treatment. Combined treatment might be an effective treatment for OA in humans.