A review article published in 'Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy' journal states that the intra-articular injections of MSCs provide functional improvement in OA patients by promoting cartilage regeneration and reducing inflammation of joints.

Worldwide, more than 150 million people suffer from OA as per the World Health Organization (WHO). OA is a chronic joint disease marked by degradation of cartilage, meniscal damage, synovitis, remodeling of subchondral bone and bone marrow lesions. The innate immune cells including macrophages, the natural killer cells, and mast cells plays a significant pathogenic role in the initiating an early inflammatory response. The adaptive immunity cells i.e the CD4 + Th1 lymphocytes and antibody-producing B cells contribute to the development of a chronic, relapsing course of inflammation in patients with OA.

Commonly used therapies for OA are based on the symptomatic treatment, especially the pain management, rather than reduction of inflammation and repair of degenerated cartilage. The regeneration of articular cartilage, intra-articular ligaments, and menisci is considered as one of the most crucial goals of new therapeutic approaches used for OA treatment

The MSCs have been extensively explored as new therapeutic agents in the cell-based therapy of OA because of their potential for differentiation into chondrocytes and their immunomodulatory properties. The main features of MSCs that enable their therapeutic use in OA are rapid proliferation, simple acquisition, maintenance of differentiation potential, minor immunological rejection because of low surface expression of MHC antigens, effective engraftment and  coexistence in the host for long.