A Mini Review: Stem Cell Therapy for Osteonecrosis of the Femoral Head and Pharmacological Aspects

Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is a common disease that occurs frequently. Due to various etiologies, the blood supply directed to the femoral head is interrupted in patients with ONFH. This disease can result in degeneration and necrosis of the subchondral bone of the femoral head, which ultimately cause a collapse of the femoral head. Of note, ONFH can extremely affect the quality of living of patients with a high disability rate. Also, this disease often includes middle-aged and younger people. However, effective treatments of ONFH are still challenging in clinics. In recent years, stem cells have been profoundly studied and a relevant new technology has been developed rapidly and applied for regenerative medicine. A number of reports have demonstrated successful results of the treatment of ONFH by using stem cell transplantation. By the combination of minimally invasive hip decompression and injection of mesenchymal stem cells into the necrotic lesion, the retrospective analysis of patients treated revealed that significant pain relief was observed in 86% patients and they had no major complications after treatment. Thus, stem cell transplantation is anticipated to be applied as an innovative approach in the treatment of ONFH. This review will summarize results obtained from recent human and animal studies, which include the pathophysiological process of ONFH, current techniques and effects of using stem cells on the treatment of ONFH together with pharmacological aspects. Overall, the current evidence reveals the treatment of ONFH using stem cell technology as promising. Nonetheless, additional in-depth studies are necessary to better explore the application of this technology and seek more ideal approaches to minimize difficulties related to stem cells.