Medical Treatments Using Mesenchymal Stem Cells - MSCs
Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) are one of the most widely studied stem cell types in medicine. They are being investigated in research for a wide range of diseases. The available clinical data are still early and limited, so neither efficacy nor safety in patients can be regarded as established.
At the same time several hundred clinical studies are ongoing to investigate their regenerative abilities in greater detail. From a biological point-of-view, they are progenitor cells of connective tissues. This means that they are important for building and maintaining the healthy status of connective tissues throughout the whole body, and are known as stromal stem cells.
Likewise, they possess the ability to differentiate into a spectrum of other cell types, including chondrocytes (cartilage cells), osteoblasts (bone cells), adipocytes (fat cells), etc. This property classifies them as “multipotent stem cells” (being able to transform into many cell types).

MSC proof of nature by differentiation
Why are MSEC - Mesenchymal Stem Cells -
More Often Used Compared Other Stem Cell Types
There are several reasons of why they are the leading stem cell type in medical applications and clinical trials on humans:
- They are relatively easy to harvest and be isolated from:
- Fat tissue, known as adMSCs (adipose derived MSCs)
- Bone Marrow, known as bmMSCs (bone marrow MSCs)
- Umbilical Cord, known as ucMSC (umbilical cord MSCs)
- MSCs are relatively stable to culture and expand in the laboratory
- They can go through relatively many division cycles without losing their expression profile, health and division potential
- Numerous animal, clinical and scientific data collected for various disease models, including neurodegenerative diseases
- Laboratory studies so far report a low tendency of MSCs to form tumour cells; long-term safety in patients is still being investigated
- Recent laboratory research is investigating the stem cell secretome profile, which has shown a range of regenerative and protective activities in preclinical models
- As such, MSCs are our favorite source for making our Stem Cell Secretome therapies.
MSC Isolated From Fat Tissue
Fat tissue contain MSCs in relatively high concentration. The tissue is processed by enzymatic or microscopical removal of non-cellular parts. This cellular end product is called Stromal Vascular Fraction (SVF). SVF has been examined in early clinical research for certain areas and diseases; these findings are preliminary. In addition, the amount of MSCs it contains is limited. Expansion of MSCs (increasing their cell count in the laboratory) is relatively straightforward. However, this process drastically complicates the clinical application because it impacts the risk profile as well. Due to this fact, this process is highly restricted in all developed countries. Research suggests that the decisive factor may not be a high cell count as such, but rather the viability and the secretion profile of the cells.
All this knowledge lead the scientists of our German Stem Cell Clinic to pursue a different approach to Stem Cell treatments: The Stem Cell Secretome. The secretome contains active components, e.g. growth factors and cytokines, which are being studied in laboratory research as possible mediators of the regenerative effects observed in preclinical models.

Confocal microscopy image of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) with florescence staining
ANOVA applies Stem Cell Secretome Therapy for patients from all over the world. For more information on secretome (stem cell-based) treatments, please feel free to contact us.
What Is Research Investigating About the Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cells?

The Figure illustrates properties of MSCs as described in the scientific literature. Research is investigating several properties of MSCs: 1) the capacity to differentiate into various cell lineages, 2) the secretion of paracrine factors, which are being studied for a possible role in healing and regeneration in surrounding cells, 3) possible effects on inflammation and immune regulation observed in laboratory studies, 4) migration towards sites of injury described in preclinical models. Figure from [10].
Stem Cell Therapies sorted by stem cell type (source tissue) and product
Contraindications
Our stem cell treatments are experimental, but we only treat patients for whom we believe the risk/benefit ratio indicates treatment based on the state of the art, i.e., medical, scientific evidence.
Please understand that we therefore do not treat patients for whom the following points apply:
- Active cancer in the last two years
- Not yet of legal age
- Existing pregnancy or lactation period
- Unable to breathe on own, ventilator
- Difficulty breathing in supine position
- Dysphagia (extreme difficulty swallowing)
- Psychiatric disorder
- Active infectious disease (Hepatitis A, B, C, HIV, Syphilis, or other)
References and Literature - Mesenchymal Stem Cells 'MSCs'
- Gu W, Zhang F, Xue Q, Ma Z, Lu P, Yu B. Transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells reduces lesion volume and induces axonal regrowth of injured spinal cord. Neuropathology. 2010; 30: 205-217.
- Wilkins A, Kemp K, Ginty M, Hares K, Mallam E, Scolding N. Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells secrete brain-derived neurotrophic factor which promotes neuronal survival in vitro. Stem Cell Res. 2009; 3: 6370
- Wei X, Yang X, Han ZP, Qu FF, Shao L, Shi YF. Mesenchymal stem cells: a new trend for cell therapy. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2013; 34: 747-754.
- Wang S, Qu X, Zhao RC. Clinical applications of mesenchymal stem cells. J Hematol Oncol. 2014; 5: 19.
- Farini, Andrea, et al. "Clinical applications of mesenchymal stem cells in chronic diseases." Stem cells international 2014 (2014).
- Volarevic, Vladislav, et al. "Concise review: therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of acute liver failure and cirrhosis." Stem Cells 32.11 (2014): 2818-2823.
- Ikebe, Chiho, and Ken Suzuki. "Mesenchymal stem cells for regenerative therapy: optimization of cell preparation protocols." BioMed research international 2014 (2014).
- Sharma, Ratti Ram, et al. "Mesenchymal stem or stromal cells: a review of clinical applications and manufacturing practices." Transfusion 54.5 (2014): 1418-1437.
- Jo, Chris Hyunchul, et al. "Intra‐articular injection of mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: a proof‐of‐concept clinical trial." Stem cells 32.5 (2014): 1254-1266.
- Squillaro, Tiziana, Gianfranco Peluso, and Umberto Galderisi. "Clinical trials with mesenchymal stem cells: an update." Cell transplantation 25.5 (2016): 829-848.
- Orozco, Lluis, et al. "Treatment of knee osteoarthritis with autologous mesenchymal stem cells: two-year follow-up results." Transplantation 97.11 (2014): e66-e68.
- Filardo, Giuseppe, et al. "Mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of cartilage lesions: from preclinical findings to clinical application in orthopaedics." Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy 21.8 (2013): 1717-1729.
- Jo, Chris Hyunchul, et al. "Intra‐articular injection of mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: a proof‐of‐concept clinical trial." Stem cells 32.5 (2014): 1254-1266.
- Vangsness, C. Thomas, et al. "Adult human mesenchymal stem cells delivered via intra-articular injection to the knee following partial medial meniscectomy." J Bone Joint Surg Am 96.2 (2014): 90-98.
- Pires A.O., Mendes-Pinheiro B., Teixeira F.G., Anjo S.I., Ribeiro-Samy S., Gomes E.D., Serra S.C., Silva N.A., Manadas B., Sousa N., et al. Unveiling the Differences of Secretome of Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cells, and Human Umbilical Cord Perivascular Cells: A Proteomic Analysis. Stem Cells Dev. 2016;25:1073–1083. doi: 10.1089/scd.2016.0048.