Abstract

Osteoarthritis is a costly and debilitating condition, especially as the population ages and more people are affected. The primary osteoarthritis targets in the joint cavity are chondrocytes and synovial cells. Researchers are increasingly convinced that macrophages play a crucial role in the development or therapy of osteoarthritis despite being largely ignored in earlier studies due to their capacity to switch from a pro-inflammatory to an anti-inflammatory phenotype. Stem cell or similar extracellular vesicle intraarticular injection offers fresh promise for treating osteoarthritis. However, the mechanism by which this works needs further investigation. It is important to investigate the intricate cellular interactions between mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and macrophages. Emerging routes using extracellular vesicles (EVs) are garnering more and more attention in intercellular communication, which has historically focused on cytokines and soluble mediators. Therefore, we focus on the polarization of macrophages as a primary consideration in our study of stem cells and associated EVs utilization in treating knee osteoarthritis.

Keywords: Stem cell, macrophage, cell interplay, osteoarthritis.