To review the potential role of stem cells in treating degenerative disc disease of the intervertebral disc (IVD). A review was performed of articles from the Medline database concerning stem cells and degenerative disc disease (DDD). To discuss the data, the papers were classified as: review, in vitro, experimental, and clinical. The currently available treatments were basically for symptom reduction, not to revert the IVD degenerative process. The use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) is being proposed as an option of treatment for DDD. In vitro studies have shown that the MSC are able to differentiate into NP cells and that the MSC also reduce the inflammatory levels of the degenerated IVD. Besides, experimental studies demonstrated that the MSC remained viable when injected into the IVD, and that they were able to regenerate partially from the degenerated IVD and its structure. The few clinical studies found in the literature presented diverging results. The use of MSC is being widely studied and shows promising results for the treatment of DDD. Although many advances are being achieved in studies in vitro and experimental, there is a lack of clinical studies to prove the role of MSC in DDD management.
Stem cells; Intervertebral disc degeneration; Spine; Mesenchymal stem cells; Intervertebral disc