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Our Laboratory

The utilization of stem cells for medical purposes is extremely versatile. Fields of their application include, but are not limited to: neurology, ophthalmology, cardiology, orthopedics, rheumatology, etc. Stem cell-based therapies have been successfully used in the treatment of joints, ligaments, tendons, connective tissue lesions, as well as an anti-aging treatment option.

Current research implies that the therapeutic efficacy of stem cell products is not attributed to the stem cell itself, but to the components it releases to the outside (often described as the secretome). As part of our product characterization, we have demonstrated some of the components of the secretome that are assumed to be therapeutically effective (exosomes, micro-vesicles, miRNA, growth factors and similar components). Each of our products is checked for particles (which also include exosomes and micro-vesicles) prior to application.

ANOVA IRM offers stem cell treatment for a variety of diseases and conditions. Our stem cell therapies include ANOVA's Stem Cell Secretome and Bone Marrow Concentrate Treatments. Our clinic has its own laboratory, where we prepare and store our injections and perform quality controls. ANOVA also uses external laboratories for quality control purposes. Our laboratory as part of the clinic is regulated and certified by the effective regulatory body.

What ANOVA Institute for Regenerative Medicine Guarantees:

  • We offer safe autologous application - this means that only the patient's own materials are used on the patient
  • Our laboratory processes are optimized for compliant and safe stem cell treatments
  • Our clinic is approved by the effective regulatory body
  • We offer patient access to their own stem cell produced secretome at any time until completion of treatment
  • We continue our research in this field to maintain a high quality and safety standard
  • No involvement in the research or storage of embryonic stem cells
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  1. Georg Hansmann, Philippe Chouvarine, Franziska Diekmann, Martin Giera, Markus Ralser, Michael Mülleder, Constantin von Kaisenberg, Harald Bertram, Ekaterina Legchenko & Ralf Hass "Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell-derived treatment of severe pulmonary arterial hypertension". Nature Cardiovascular Research volume 1, pages568–576 (2022).
  2. Murphy JM, Fink DJ, Hunziker EB, et al. Stem cell therapy in a caprine model of osteoarthritis . Arthritis Rheum. 2003;48:3464–74.
  3. Lee KB, Hui JH, Song IC, Ardany L, et al. Injectable mesenchymal stem cell therapy for large cartilage defects—a porcine model. Stem Cell. 2007;25:2964–71.
  4. Saw KY, Hussin P, Loke SC, et al. Articular cartilage regeneration with autologous marrow aspirate and hyaluronic acid: an experimental study in a goat model. Arthroscopy . 2009;25(12):1391–400.
  5. Black L, Gaynor J, Adams C, et al. Effect of intra-articular injection of autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stem and regenerative cells on clinical signs of chronic osteoarthritis of the elbow joint in dogs. Vet Ther. 2008;9:192-200.
  6. Centeno C, Busse D, Kisiday J, et al. Increased knee cartilage volume in degenerative joint disease using percutaneously implanted, autologous mesenchymal stem cells. Pain Physician. 2008;11(3):343–53.
  7. Centeno C, Kisiday J, Freeman M, et al. Partial regeneration of the human hip via autologous bone marrow nucleated cell transfer: a case study. Pain Physician. 2006;9:253–6.
  8. Centeno C, Schultz J, Cheever M. Safety and complications reporting on the re-implantation of culture-expanded mesenchymal stem cells using autologous platelet lysate technique. Curr Stem Cell. 2011;5(1):81–93.
  9. Pak J. Regeneration of human bones in hip osteonecrosis and human cartilage in knee osteoarthritis with autologous adipose derived stem cells: a case series. J Med Case Rep. 2001;5:296.
  10. Kuroda R, Ishida K, et al. Treatment of a full-thickness articular cartilage defect in the femoral condyle of an athlete with autologous bone-marrow stromal cells. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2007;15:226–31.
  11. Emadedin M, Aghdami N, Taghiyar L, et al. Intra-articular injection of autologous mesenchymal stem cells in six patients with knee osteoarthritis. Arch Iran Med. 2012;15(7):422–8.
  12. Saw KY et al. Articular cartilage regeneration with autologous peripheral blood stem cells versus hyaluronic acid: a randomized controlled trial. Arthroscopy. 2013;29(4):684–94.
  13. Vangsness CT, Farr J, Boyd J, et al. Adult human mesenchymal stem cells delivered via intra-articular injection to the knee following partial medial meniscectomy. J Bone Joint Surg. 2014;96(2):90–8.
  14. Freitag, Julien, et al. Mesenchymal stem cell therapy in the treatment of osteoarthritis: reparative pathways, safety and efficacy–a review. BMC musculoskeletal disorders 17.1 (2016): 230.
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  37. S. Zhang, W. Chu, R. Lai, J. Hui, E. Lee, S. Lim, et al., 21 – human mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes promote orderly cartilage regeneration in an immunocompetent rat osteochondral defect model , Cytotherapy 18 (2016) S13.
  38. C.T. Lim, X. Ren, M.H. Afizah, S. Tarigan-Panjaitan, Z. Yang, Y. Wu, et al., Repair of osteochondral defects with rehydrated freeze-dried oligo[poly(ethylene glycol) fumarate] hydrogels seeded with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in a porcine model
  39. A. Gobbi, G. Karnatzikos, S.R. Sankineani, One-step surgery with multipotent stem cells for the treatment of large full-thickness chondral defects of the knee , Am. J. Sports Med. 42 (2014) 648–657.
  40. A. Gobbi, C. Scotti, G. Karnatzikos, A. Mudhigere, M. Castro, G.M. Peretti, One-step surgery with multipotent stem cells and Hyaluronan-based scaffold for the treatment of full-thickness chondral defects of the knee in patients older than 45 years , Knee Surg. Sports Traumatol. Arthrosc. (2016) 1–8.
  41. A. Gobbi, G. Karnatzikos, C. Scotti, V. Mahajan, L. Mazzucco, B. Grigolo, One-step cartilage repair with bone marrow aspirate concentrated cells and collagen matrix in full-thickness knee cartilage lesions: results at 2-Year follow-up , Cartilage 2 (2011) 286–299.
  42. K.L. Wong, K.B.L. Lee, B.C. Tai, P. Law, E.H. Lee, J.H.P. Hui, Injectable cultured bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in varus knees with cartilage defects undergoing high tibial osteotomy: a prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial with 2 years’ follow-up , Arthrosc. J. Arthrosc. Relat. Surg. 29 (2013) 2020–2028.
  43. J.M. Hare, J.E. Fishman, G. Gerstenblith, et al., Comparison of allogeneic vs autologous bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stem cells delivered by transendocardial injection in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy: the poseidon randomized trial, JAMA 308 (2012) 2369–2379.
  44. L. Wu, J.C.H. Leijten, N. Georgi, J.N. Post, C.A. van Blitterswijk, M. Karperien, Trophic effects of mesenchymal stem cells increase chondrocyte proliferation and matrix formation , Tissue Eng. A 17 (2011) 1425–1436.
  45. L. Wu, H.-J. Prins, M.N. Helder, C.A. van Blitterswijk, M. Karperien, Trophic effects of mesenchymal stem cells in chondrocyte Co-Cultures are independent of culture conditions and cell sources , Tissue Eng. A 18 (2012) 1542–1551.
  46. S.K. Sze, D.P.V. de Kleijn, R.C. Lai, E. Khia Way Tan, H. Zhao, K.S. Yeo, et al., Elucidating the secretion proteome of human embryonic stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells , Mol. Cell. Proteomics 6 (2007) 1680–1689.
  47. M.B. Murphy, K. Moncivais, A.I. Caplan, Mesenchymal stem cells: environmentally responsive therapeutics for regenerative medicine , Exp. Mol. Med. 45 (2013) e54.
  48. M.J. Lee, J. Kim, M.Y. Kim, Y.-S. Bae, S.H. Ryu, T.G. Lee, et al., Proteomic analysis of tumor necrosis factor--induced secretome of human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells , J. Proteome Res. 9 (2010) 1754–1762.
  49. S. Bruno, C. Grange, M.C. Deregibus, R.A. Calogero, S. Saviozzi, F. Collino, et al., Mesenchymal stem cell-derived microvesicles protect against acute tubular injury, J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 20 (2009) 1053–1067.
  50. M. Yá˜nez-Mó, P.R.-M. Siljander, Z. Andreu, A.B. Zavec, F.E. Borràs, E.I. Buzas, et al. Biological properties of extracellular vesicles and their physiological functions (2015).
  51. C. Lawson, J.M. Vicencio, D.M. Yellon, S.M. Davidson, Microvesicles and exosomes: new players in metabolic and cardiovascular disease , J. Endocrinol. 228 (2016) R57–R71.
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  54. T. Kato, S. Miyaki, H. Ishitobi, Y. Nakamura, T. Nakasa, M.K. Lotz, et al., Exosomes from IL-1 stimulated synovial fibroblasts induce osteoarthritic changes in articular chondrocytes , Arthritis. Res. Ther. 16 (2014) 1–11.
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  57. R.C. Lai, F. Arslan, S.S. Tan, B. Tan, A. Choo, M.M. Lee, et al., Derivation and characterization of human fetal MSCs: an alternative cell source for large-scale production of cardioprotective microparticles , J. Mol. Cell. Cardiol. 48 (2010) 1215–1224.
  58. Y. Zhou, H. Xu, W. Xu, B. Wang, H. Wu, Y. Tao, et al., Exosomes released by human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells protect against cisplatin-induced renal oxidative stress and apoptosis in vivo and in vitro , Stem Cell Res. Ther. 4 (2013) 1–13.
  59. Y. Qin, L. Wang, Z. Gao, G. Chen, C. Zhang, Bone marrow stromal/stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles regulate osteoblast activity and differentiation in vitro and promote bone regeneration in vivo , Sci. Rep. 6 (2016) 21961.
  60. M. Nakano, K. Nagaishi, N. Konari, Y. Saito, T. Chikenji, Y. Mizue, et al., Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells improve diabetes-induced cognitive impairment by exosome transfer into damaged neurons and astrocytes , Sci. Rep. 6 (2016) 24805.
  61. K. Nagaishi, Y. Mizue, T. Chikenji, M. Otani, M. Nakano, N. Konari, et al., Mesenchymal stem cell therapy ameliorates diabetic nephropathy via the paracrine effect of renal trophic factors including exosomes , Sci. Rep. 6 (2016) 34842.
  62. S.R. Baglio, K. Rooijers, D. Koppers-Lalic, F.J. Verweij, M. Pérez Lanzón, N. Zini, et al., Human bone marrow- and adipose-mesenchymal stem cells secrete exosomes enriched in distinctive miRNA and tRNA species , Stem Cell Res. Ther. 6 (2015) 1–20.
  63. T. Chen, R. Yeo, F. Arslan, Y. Yin, S. Tan, Efficiency of exosome production correlates inversely with the developmental maturity of MSC donor, J. Stem Cell Res. Ther. 3 (2013) 2.
  64. R.C. Lai, S.S. Tan, B.J. Teh, S.K. Sze, F. Arslan, D.P. de Kleijn, et al., Proteolytic potential of the MSC exosome proteome: implications for an exosome-mediated delivery of therapeutic proteasome , Int. J. Proteomics 2012 (2012) 971907.
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  69. Hu G-w, Q. Li, X. Niu, B. Hu, J. Liu, Zhou S-m, et al., Exosomes secreted by human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells attenuate limb ischemia by promoting angiogenesis in mice , Stem Cell Res. Ther. 6 (2015) 1–15.
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  1. Xu, Ming, et al. " Transplanted senescent cells induce an osteoarthritis-like condition in mice. " The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences (2016): glw154.
  2. McCulloch, Kendal, Gary J. Litherland, and Taranjit Singh Rai. " Cellular senescence in osteoarthritis pathology ." Aging Cell (2017).

Patient Services at ANOVA Institute for Regenerative Medicine

  • Located in the center of Germany, quick access by car or train from anywhere in Europe
  • Simple access worldwide, less than 20 minutes from Frankfurt Airport
  • Individualized therapy with state-of-the-art stem cell products
  • Individually planned diagnostic work-up which include world-class MRI and CT scans
  • German high quality standard on safety and quality assurance
  • Personal service with friendly, dedicated Patient Care Managers
  • Scientific collaborations with academic institutions to assure you the latest regenerative medical programs