Recent advances in treatments of cartilage regeneration for knee osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is diagnosed in nearly 240 million people globally. It is linked with cartilage degeneration and involves all structures of the affected joint. Current treatments include allograft, autograft chondrocyte implants, pharmacotherapy using NSAIDs, corticosteroids, and viscosupplements. However, these treatments provide symptomatic effects which help in cartilage repair, but not in cartilage regeneration. Hence, there is a need for a disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug. Tissue engineering treatment can be used as an alternative for current treatment, which helps in cartilage repair and cartilage regeneration. This review summarizes recent studies on cartilage regeneration and looks into the dynamic mechanisms of OA and the role of Cells, scaffold, biochemical stimuli, nano electrostatic interactions, and device-based therapies. Furthermore, therapeutic strategies are either employed in itself or combined with others for chondrocytes differentiation, reduced inflammation, enzymatic degradation, and relief of pain. For OA treatment, published literature suggests that scaffold-based therapy using biomimicry material, mechanical loading with gene and growth factors, and cell-based approaches are a way forward as they are target specific and improve retention. Treatments like allograft and autograft which are considered as gold standard treatments do not provide long term benefits due to poor restore mobility of the joints. Consequently, scaffold with growth factors, genes, or cells could potentially help in strong mechanical cartilage restoration and repair or perhaps cure OA if carried out at an early stage of the disease. Specific biological function formation and structural maintenance of the collagen cartilage network which causes current treatments for cartilage regeneration to fail. Lack of success in cartilage regeneration may be due to the emphasis on aspects of cell biology rather than mechanical aspects.