Open AccessHuman Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation for the Treatment of Chronic Discogenic Low Back Pain
Author(s) -
Baogan Peng
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
pain physician
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.31
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2150-1149
pISSN - 1533-3159
DOI - 10.36076/ppj.2014/17/e525
Subject(s) - medicine , transplantation , oswestry disability index , low back pain , chronic pain , umbilical cord , back pain , surgery , visual analogue scale , mesenchymal stem cell , intervertebral disc , physical therapy , pathology , anatomy , alternative medicine
Background: Chronic low back pain is one of the major causes of disability and thus has amajor socioeconomic impact. Intervertebral disc degeneration is the main cause of chronic lowback pain. Treatment for chronic discogenic low back pain has traditionally been limited to eitherconservative management or surgical fusion. If conservative treatment fails, then surgical fusionis commonly considered. Current treatments are limited to treat the symptoms and not theunderlying biologic alterations of the disc.Objective: Human umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (HUC-MSCs) containstem cells and possess the ability to regenerate degenerative discs. Based on the results of previousin vitro and animal experiments, we conducted a preliminary study to test the feasibility and safetyand to obtain an early indication for the therapeutic value of HUC-MSC transplantation in patientswith chronic discogenic low back pain.Study Design: This is the first study involving treatment of chronic low back pain using HUCMSC transplantation.Setting: The study was performed at a spine center in China.Methods: Two patients with chronic discogenic low back pain were treated with HUC-MSCtransplantation. An 11-point visual analog scale (VAS, 0 – 10) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI,0 – 100) were used to assess the back pain symptoms and the lumbar function, respectively.Results: After transplantation, the pain and function improved immediately in the 2 patients.The VAS and ODI scores decreased obviously during a 2-year follow-up period.Limitations: The shortcoming of this study is that it is a preliminary study with only 2 patients.Conclusion: The clinical outcomes indicated that HUC-MSC transplantation is a favorablealternative method for the treatment of chronic discogenic low back pain.Key words: Intervertebral disc degeneration, discogenic low back pain, chronic low back pain,lumbar discography, mesenchymal stem cells, human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells,transplantation