Injection of Ultra-Purified Stem Cells with Sodium Alginate Reduces Discogenic Pain in a Rat Model

Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is a major cause of low back pain. However, treatments directly approaching the etiology of IVD degeneration and discogenic pain are not yet established. We previously demonstrated that intradiscal implantation of cell-free bioresorbable ultra-purified alginate...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hisataka Suzuki, Katsuro Ura, Daisuke Ukeba, Takashi Suyama, Norimasa Iwasaki, Masatoki Watanabe, Yumi Matsuzaki, Katsuhisa Yamada, Hideki Sudo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-02-01
Series:Cells
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/12/3/505
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Summary:Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is a major cause of low back pain. However, treatments directly approaching the etiology of IVD degeneration and discogenic pain are not yet established. We previously demonstrated that intradiscal implantation of cell-free bioresorbable ultra-purified alginate (UPAL) gel promotes tissue repair and reduces discogenic pain, and a combination of ultra-purified, Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-compliant, human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (rapidly expanding clones; RECs), and the UPAL gel increasingly enhanced IVD regeneration in animal models. This study investigated the therapeutic efficacy of injecting a mixture of REC and UPAL non-gelling solution for discogenic pain and IVD regeneration in a rat caudal nucleus pulposus punch model. REC and UPAL mixture and UPAL alone suppressed not only the expression of TNF-α, IL-6, and TrkA (<i>p</i> < 0.01, respectively), but also IVD degeneration and nociceptive behavior compared to punching alone (<i>p</i> < 0.01, respectively). Furthermore, REC and UPAL mixture suppressed these expression levels and nociceptive behavior compared to UPAL alone (<i>p</i> < 0.01, respectively). These results suggest that this minimally invasive treatment strategy with a single injection may be applied to treat discogenic pain and as a regenerative therapy.
ISSN:2073-4409