Stem Cell Treatment for Arthritis Rheumatoid Osteoarthritis

Stem Cell Treatment for Osteoarthritis & Gout Arthritis Therapy

Arthritis disease consists of over 128 unique conditions and auto-immune diseases that can trigger severe joint irritation and discomfort. Stem Cell Transplants for Arthritis can help manage and eliminate the arthritic condition in a permanent, safe, and effective way using enhanced MSC+ stem cells.

Arthritis disease is not a single condition but a family of over 100 types conditions referring to joint disease or joint pain. The two common form of arthritis are osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. The disease affects people of all gender, age, and racial backgrounds and is considered one of the leading causes of disabilities in the world. A diagnosis of arthritis can occur as we begin to age.

Common symptoms of arthritis include:

  • Severe Pain in joints
  • Swelling of joints
  • Stiffness or decreased range of motion
  • Redness

Rheumatoid Arthritis Vs. Osteoarthritis Treatment

Signs often come and go and can range from mild, moderate to even severe. Patients often ignore the symptoms for years but usually find that the disease degenerates even further over time causing severe chronic pain and the inability to do typical day to day activities such as walking, climbing stairs or exercising. If left untreated, Arthritis will cause permanent and visible joint damage such as knobby/knotted finger joints. For those that do not display symptoms, an MRI or Xray is needed to see the full evaluation of treatment options. Some types of severe arthritis will also affect the patient’s heart function, vision/eyes, Impaired Kidney function, skin, lungs, and circulatory system.

Risk factors for Acquiring a Diagnosis for Arthritis include:

  • Genetics or Family history – Arthritis can run in families, so, likely, patients who have parents or siblings with the disorder will also develop arthritis. Genes can also make us more susceptible to external/environmental factors that can trigger onset arthritis. Testing for genetic arthritis now available.
  • Gender – Women are much more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than men, while most patients who get diagnosed with gout ( another type of arthritis) are men.
  • Patients who had a previous joint injury – People have injured, and surgically treated hip or knee joints are at a much higher risk to develop arthritis in that joint. An Alternative to Knee surgery ore reduce the risk of knee osteoarthritis, Hip Surgery or Shoulder Surgery is recommended for this reason
  • Obesity/Body Weight – Carrying excess weight can damage joints and puts extra stress on joints such as knees, spine (spinal stenosis), or hips. Therefore overweight people have a much higher risk of developing arthritis as they age.
  • Age – The risk of acquiring many types of arthritis increases as we age.

There are numerous well-known types of joint arthritis in the world today. The two main types of joint arthritis are osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis.  RA or Rheumatoid joint inflammations are the constant ailment. RA starts with irritation, tiredness, joint discomfort, and or stiffness. As this problem gets worse over time, you will experience frequent flu-like symptoms and muscle pains. Osteoarthritis, on the other hand, is a “wear & tear” problem. Osteoarthritis is a lot more familiar with age and now manageable with Stem Cell treatment for Osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis begins with stiffness and joint discomforts and is treatable with stem cell treatment for osteoarthritis.

Ankylosing Spondylitis & Spinal Arthritis

MSC+ Stem Cells for Autoimmune Arthritis

Additional types of joint inflammations that are treatable in a short trip to Thailand consist of:

The types of stem cells needed for treatment depend on the type of autoinflammatory vs autoimmune disease the patient is diagnosed with but (MSC+) mesenchymal stem cell transplants offer a viable alternative to having invasive knee replacement surgery or hip replacement surgery. The regeneration center offers a safe and effective cell-based treatment for degenerative Arthritis that can quickly help relieve pain, problems, and unnecessary physical suffering. Usually, most adult females and men in between 40 to 65 establish some cartilage and joint issues that result in osteoarthritis. These conditions can safely be treated today using MSC+ Cells for Joint inflammation and Arthritis.

Stem cell therapy for cartilage regeneration

Cell regenerative medicine allows the replacement cells to travel throughout your body through a process known as “homing” Homing means the cell is actively “homing” in on distressed/injured areas throughout your body.[1] Autologous regeneration of joints require harvesting of the cells from autologous fat, peripheral blood or marrow then separate and expand the mesenchymal cells.  [2] If a patient is older or has an underlying medical condition that will not allow us to take stem mesenchymal stem cells mscs from his/her body (bone marrow derived), we will use isolated allogeneic stem cells with ultrasound guidance to begin tissue repair process in the cartilage matrix.

Ultrasound-guided-stem-cell-injections-Joints

Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Cartilage Regeneration

Some background information is needed to evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) treatments for osteoarthritis (OA). MSC cells can be easily obtained in several areas, including bone marrow, peripheral blood, cord tissue, placental tissue, and Wharton’s jelly. When properly extracted, they are considered safe and do not prevent future treatments if needed. The isolated stem cells are then cultured for 7-10 days at our stem cell lab in Bangkok before they are injected back into the joints affected by OA. The delivery of stem cells is often done using radio guidance and via intramuscular, intravenous and/or Intrathecal injections depending on patient needs.

What are disadvantages of using stem cells to treat Arthritis?

There are several different methods for using isolated MSC+ cells in treatment. One way involves expanding the undifferentiated stem cells in our stem cell lab to create a more uniform population of cell types needed before introducing them back to the patient over two weeks. This approach allows us precise control over the types and quantities of cells used. An alternative and less effective way are to use bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) or stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells. This method generally does not use extensive cell manipulation and has a more straightforward regulatory pathway. However, the lack of cell culturing offers fewer MSC cells compared to expanded protocols (MSC+)cells. In addition to bone marrow and adipose tissue, other sources of MSC cells include isolating cells from amniotic fluid and cord membranes. Allogeneic MSC cells from these sources can be used since they have low immunogenicity and can avoid immune responses in recipients. This approach is often more beneficial for older patients or those with multiple co-morbidities whose MSCs may have reduced regenerative potential for knee oa and might require total knee replacement surgery or several rounds of intra-articular injection of mesenchymal stem cells.

What is the success rate of stem cell treatment for osteoarthritis?

MSCs” mainly describe various stromal cell populations that are expanded outside the body. For over 40 years, MSC cells have been used in musculoskeletal treatments because of their ability to become tissue-specific cells like osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and tenocytes. However, about a decade ago, The Regeneration Center started isolating MSC cells to enhance their ability to sense their environment and release bioactive molecules, such as cytokines, antioxidants, and trophic growth factors. These molecules and growth factors are used with MSC+ stem cells to re-establish tissue balance after an injury. Thus, our combination protocol using MSC+ cells offers significantly higher success rates thanks to adding the medicinal signalling cells and tissue-specific growth factors. Clinical trials have shown that expanded MSC cells can help repair tissues by reducing inflammation, limiting stress response, and recruiting immune and reparative cells. Regeneration Center research has also shown that a pro-inflammatory environment can help trigger the anti-inflammatory effects of MSC cells. For example, MSCs exposed to synovial fluid or inflammatory cytokines show increased anti-inflammatory molecule production and inhibit T-cell proliferation. Learn about the Top 10 foods to fight osteoarthritis. While our findings don’t negate the idea that MSCs can directly differentiate into tissue-specific cells, it’s difficult to achieve good results from a small sample of MSC from bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) or stromal vascular fraction (SVF) injected into a joint over a short 1-3 day protocol can reach multiple damaged areas and produce new cartilage. Therefore, our treatment protocol is unique as it uses two mechanisms of MSC action (paracrine and direct cell differentiation), which are not mutually exclusive. Still, their differences are crucial for understanding and setting realistic expectations for patients undergoing stem cell therapy for Arthritis.

Can stem cells reverse osteoarthritis?

Many studies have been done to assess the efficacy of MSC treatments for osteoarthritis (OA), but there are limitations on what is realistically possible. When treating a patient with OA joints, they should expect quick symptom relief due to MSC+ cells’ ability to release various molecules that help tissue repair and reduce inflammation. But if one improperly or without tissue-specific growth factors, the duration of these effects will be limited. For a more permanent solution for OA, a protocol must use multiple types of cells, growth factors and delivery methods followed by proper rehab to ensure sustained long-term benefits of stem cell therapy. Our treatment goal is to improve a patient’s quality of life for longer than one year. Still, it requires several steps to be completed to achieve satisfactory results, especially for those who have been suffering for a long time and have been using daily painkillers or anti-inflammatory drugs with known side effects. Predicting a patient’s response to the Regeneration Center treatment for Arthritis can be complex without reviewing the patient’s medical information, as each person’s symptoms, stages and severities vary.

Expanded MSC+ Stem Cells for Osteoarthritis

Safety and efficacy combined with an affordable method of managing arthritic degenerative conditions that can assist your body to heal faster, eliminate pain stiffness and improve function by eliminating the pain. The protocol for the treatment of Arthritis in 2 phases using Mesenchymal Cells combined with growth factors and to create a higher percentage of blood platelets. Cellular therapy for Arthritis and Osteogenic cartilage cells & growth factors are combined to help expedite the recovery process in the damaged tissues and knee cartilage. Clinical trials have shown stem cells are the gold standard alternative therapy to repair tissue via essential anti inflammatory elements and growth factors needed for the cell homing process and instructs the cells the body that it’s time to commence the natural healing process.

comparison-mesenchymal-stemcell-sources-viability-potency-regen
Play Video about comparison-mesenchymal-stemcell-sources-viability-potency-regen

Stem Cell therapy for Osteoarthritis

Enhanced MSC+ stem cells in quantities ranging from 300 Million to 800 Million Cells are introduced to multiple points near the joints or tissue bordering the troublesome joints. [3] Utilizing only the latest techniques to treat arthritis, these repair stem cells modify and mend the damaged tissues as well as instructs the broken cells to repair themselves resulting in pain relief.[4] We are the leading treatment provider center of both Allogeneic Hematopoietic Mesenchymal and Autologous Stem Cell Therapy from adipose tissue, peripheral blood, bone & Stem cell treatment for rheumatoid Arthritis. Other cell-based therapies we offer include treatment of spinal trauma, treatment for heart disease, peripheral neuropathy, treatment for diabetics,treatment for Autism,treatment of knee osteoarthritis, reduces knee pain and stem cell treatment for kidney failure.[5]

Before After Stem Cell Therapy for Arthritis

stem-cell-arthritis-treatments-bangkok stem-cell-rheumatoid-arthritis-treatments-thailand

Avoid Joint Replacement Surgery With Stem Cell Therapy in Knee


Total Number of Adult Stem Cell Injections: Total number of Endogenous Mesenchymal Stem cells, cartilage cells and exosomes growth factors to repair tissue will vary based on patient needs, locations of knee pain and severity of cartilage defects Eligibility criteria depends on the injury requirements needed, the treatment infusions can be done via a guided radiograph through an Intravenous Infusions, Direct injection, intra articular injections or Intrathecally using different cell types.[6]

Rehabilitation Post Treatment: Physical Rehabilitation and weight loss programs are optional but highly recommended. Complete physical rehab services after regenerative therapy can be provided upon request for 2-3 hours per day and up to 5 days per week.

Total Time Required To Treat Hip and Knee : estimated around 2 weeks (depending on type and seriousness of condition). Medical and travel visas for extended stay accommodations at a hotel or extended stay apartment for the patient and family can also be provided upon request.

 Treating Osteoarthritis with Stem cells

Cost of Stem Cell Treatment for Osteoarthritis in 2024

MSC+ Stem Cell treatment for arthritis and treatment of knee osteoarthritis will require minimum of 2 weeks in total. Due to the varying degrees of severity, our orthopedic team will need to evaluate potential patients so that an appropriate protocol can be established. Upon approval, a detailed treatment plan will be provided that will include the specifics such as exact total number nights required along with the total medical related costs. To begin the evaluation process for our multi-stage arthritis treatment protocol w/ intra articular injections, please prepare your recent medical records such as radiology scans w/ Blood tests and contact us today.

Published Clinical Citations

[1] ^ Hauser, Ross A, and Amos Orlofsky. 2013. Regenerative injection therapy with whole bone marrow aspirate for degenerative joint disease: a case series. Clinical medicine insights. Arthritis and musculoskeletal disorders (September 4). doi:10.4137/CMAMD.S10951. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24046512

[2] ^ Kheansaard, Wasinee, Sumana Mas-Oo-di, Surasak Nilganuwong, and Dalina I Tanyong. 2012. Interferon-gamma induced nitric oxide-mediated apoptosis of anemia of chronic disease in rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology international, no. 1 (January 19). doi:10.1007/s00296-011-2307-y. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22258456

[3] ^ Oshita, Koichi, Kunihiro Yamaoka, and Yoshiya Tanaka. 2013. [Regulation of osteoclastogenesis by human mesenchymal stem cells leading to application of a novel treatment for rheumatoid arthritis]. Journal of UOEH, no. 1 ( 1). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23475022

[4] ^ Roelofs, A J, J P J Rocke, and C De Bari. 2013. Cell-based approaches to joint surface repair: a research perspective. Osteoarthritis and cartilage, no. 7 (April 15). doi:10.1016/j.joca.2013.04.008. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23598176

[5] ^ Turajane, Thana, Ukrit Chaweewannakorn, Viroj Larbpaiboonpong, Jongjate Aojanepong, Thakoon Thitiset, Sittisak Honsawek, Juthatip Fongsarun, and Konstantinos I Papadopoulos. 2013. Combination of intra-articular autologous activated peripheral blood adult stem cells with growth factor addition/ preservation and hyaluronic acid in conjunction with arthroscopic microdrilling mesenchymal cell stimulation Improves quality of life and regenerates articular cartilage in early osteoarthritic knee disease. Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand = Chotmaihet thangphaet, no. 5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23745314

[6] ^ Zhen, Gehua, Chunyi Wen, Xiaofeng Jia, Yu Li, Janet L Crane, Simon C Mears, Frederic B Askin, et al. 2013. Inhibition of TGF-β signaling in mesenchymal stem cells of subchondral bone attenuates osteoarthritis. Nature medicine, no. 6 (May 19). doi:10.1038/nm.3143. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23685840

Page last updated: 02 February 2024 Topic last reviewed: 11 June 2023