Very limited treatment options are available for osteoarthritis and most of them are for symptoms of osteoarthritis not for cause. Adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which have the ability to differentiate into cells of the chondrogenic lineage, have emerged as a candidate cell type with great potential for cell-based articular cartilage repair technologies. We conducted a study to see the effect of direct injection of stem cells on artificially created osteoarthritis model in rabbits. Surgical instability was created in 20 adult white rabbits over 16 weeks old and weighing over 2 kg using a modification of the technique of Hulth et al. Only the right knees were operated (with other side serving as control). 12 weeks after surgery, X-rays were done for all 20 rabbits and confirmed for features of osteoarthritis like joint space narrowing, osteophyte formation etc. Bone marrow was aspirated and stem cells were prepared by method of Pittenger et al. Animals were divided into 2 groups of 10 each: Group I (with stem cell infusion) and Group II (control). The radiological evaluation was done at 12 week, 16 weeks, 20 weeks and histological evaluation at 16 and 20 weeks.Introduction
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