Repeat MSC injection RCTs
There are only three published RCTs in which repeat MSC intra-articular injections were administered. Freitag et al. used cryopreserved autologous MSC(AT) at doses of 100 × 10Interestingly, Freitag’s group initially included a fourth arm of 40 × 10Conversely, the design of the Matas et al. trial included a control group (The Lu et al. trial employed a unique dosing method in which four injections were given a week apart for both the MSC and control groups. The control group received four 2.5 mL injections of HA, while the treatment group received 50 × 10Taken together, all three trials reported benefits of dual injections, although only the Matas and Lu trials showed differences in PROMs at 12 months, while the Freitag and Lu trials showed gains in cartilage volume or a lack of cartilage volume losses at 12 months with dual injections.