根据卫生福利部统计，国人膝关节退化的盛行率约15%，推估有350万人饱受膝关节疼痛之苦，五十岁的发生率为20至30%，七十岁以上则高达70%。且随著运动风气盛行，很多人的膝盖常会不当使用，患者年龄层由60、70岁逐渐下降，更已出现30、40岁的患者，呈现越来越年轻化趋势。

    退化性关节炎主要的症状是疼痛、僵硬、肿大和变形，一生中，罹患退化性关节炎几乎无法避免，依据健保署统计，每年有 2万人须置换人工关节，才能行动自如。但现在已证实，可以利用间叶干细胞达到软骨再生的效果，改善关节退化。^1.2.3

    西班牙研究团队发表 “使用自体间叶干细胞治疗膝关节炎的先导型临床试验”。针对12名慢性膝关节疼痛且对保守治疗没有反应的患者进行间叶干细胞膝关节内注射，并追踪1年观察成效。结果显示，注射间叶干细胞至膝关节的方法简单，不需要住院或手术，且可缓解疼痛，降低软骨缺乏区域的比例，提升软骨品质。⁴

Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis With Autologous Mesenchymal Stem Cells: A Pilot Study

Background: Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent joint disease and a frequent cause of joint pain, functional loss, and disability. Osteoarthritis often becomes chronic, and conventional treatments have demonstrated only modest clinical benefits without lesion reversal. Cell-based therapies have shown encouraging results in both animal studies and a few human case reports. We designed a pilot study to assess the feasibility and safety of osteoarthritis treatment with mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in humans and to obtain early efficacy information for this treatment.

Methods: Twelve patients with chronic knee pain unresponsive to conservative treatments and radiologic evidence of osteoarthritis were treated with autologous expanded bone marrow MSCs by intra-articular injection (40×106 cells). Clinical outcomes were followed for 1 year and included evaluations of pain, disability, and quality of life. Articular cartilage quality was assessed by quantitative magnetic resonance imaging T2 mapping.

Results: Feasibility and safety were confirmed, and strong indications of clinical efficacy were identified. Patients exhibited rapid and progressive improvement of algofunctional indices that approached 65% to 78% by 1 year. This outcome compares favorably with the results of conventional treatments. Additionally, quantification of cartilage quality by T2 relaxation measurements demonstrated a highly significant decrease of poor cartilage areas (on average, 27%), with improvement of cartilage quality in 11 of the 12 patients.

Conclusions: MSC therapy may be a valid alternative treatment for chronic knee osteoarthritis. The intervention is simple, does not require hospitalization or surgery, provides pain relief, and significantly improves cartilage quality.

资料来源：

1. http://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POE0011/289550/web/

2. http://www.kmuh.org.tw/www/kmcj/data/9109/10.htm

3. http://www.tahsda.org.tw/newsletters/?p=2655

4. Transplantation . 95(12):1535-1541, June 27, 2013

编辑整理：干细胞论坛部落格