Authors: Emily Jordan, Vincent S. Gallicchio
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a progressive, autoimmune disorder that causes joint deterioration in the body. RA begins with swelling and inflammation in the joints, and eventually progresses to cause cartilage and bone deterioration at the site of the joint. Early stages of RA typically affect smaller joints, and the impact spreads to larger joints as the disease continues to advance within an individual. There are various treatment methods that are currently used by RA patients, which aim to mitigate RA symptoms and induce periods of remission. However, stem cell therapies using BM-MSCs, hASCs, UC-MSCs, and hUCB-MSCs are currently being studied as potential treatment methods for RA. Many scientists and researchers believe that the characteristics of stem cells will allow stem cell therapy to be an extremely beneficial treatment method. Pre-clinical trials and clinical trials using various stem cell types have been completed, but further testing is necessary to determine the most safe and effective method to treat RA in humans.
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