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First study using hematopoietic stem cells in human discs finds no pain relief

Researcher looks to start new study exploring mesenchymal stem cells for disc regeneration.

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Despite the excitement surrounding stem cell research generally, the first human study injecting discs with hematopoietic stem cells found that they provided “little value” for pain.

In reaching their conclusions, researchers from the MicroSpine Center in Florida prospectively followed 10 self-elected patients that received hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) injections and hyperbaric oxygen therapy for degenerative disc pain. At 1 year postinjection, none of the patients reported pain relief. “Usually we’ll get at least one or somebody who gets some improvement or some placebo [effect],” researcher Scott M. W. Haufe, MD, told Orthopedics Today. “But with this group of people, nobody had any significant improvement at all and that was very interesting about the group.”

The study included 5 men and 5 women (32 to 74 years old) who had a failed prior endoscopic discectomy, the researchers wrote in their study. They performed discograms to confirm the etiology of the pain and waited at least 3 months after endoscopic treatment before injecting the cells.

During the procedure, physicians injected each problematic disc with 5 cc of bone marrow aspirate from the patients’ pelvic crest and reinserted the cells into the discs. Due to poor oxygenation in the discs, patients underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy for 2 weeks. The researchers also prohibited patients from frequent bending and lifting more than 10 pounds. They followed the group for a year and recorded visual analog scale and Oswestry scores.

Since none of the patients experienced pain relief, many later underwent surgical treatment. “After the 1 year anniversary of the study, 7 (75%) of the original 10 patients underwent fusion surgery and 1 (10%) underwent ADR surgery,” the researchers wrote. “The remainder continued with conservative therapy.”

Haufe hypothesized that the treatment may have failed due to excessive mechanical loading or poor blood flow within the disc.

“And, of course, the third thing was that possibly these particular stem cells didn’t offer the regenerative properties that are necessary to rejuvenate a disc,” he said.

While hematopoietic stem cell treatment proved unsuccessful, Haufe maintains that other stem cell lines may hold the key to disc rejuvenation and is looking for a collaborator to do mesenchymal stem cell research. “I’m hoping that we can work on that study within the next 6 months to see if that offers any hope,” he said.

For more information:

Haufe SMW, Mork AR. Intradiscal injection of hematopoietic stem cells in an attempt to rejuvenate the intervertebral discs. Stem Cells Dev. 15:136-137.