Delivering fat-derived stem cells at a specific acupuncture point reduced knee joint damage by activating the body’s cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway.
Researchers created knee osteoarthritis in male rats and injected fat-derived mesenchymal stem cells into the kidney ten acupuncture point. They assessed pain-related behaviour, movement, joint structure, tissue damage, cellular injury, and molecular changes using behavioural tests, imaging, tissue examination, electron microscopy, and protein profiling. They also administered a drug that blocks a key cholinergic receptor to test whether this signalling pathway mediated the treatment effect.
Stem cell delivery at the acupuncture point reduced pain, improved movement, and lessened inflammation of the joint lining and degeneration of cartilage. Treated animals showed reduced injury to cartilage cells, while protein analysis indicated activation of a cholinergic anti-inflammatory mechanism involving prostaglandin signalling, a cholinergic receptor, and nuclear factor kappa B. Blocking the cholinergic receptor reversed these benefits, supporting its central role in the observed protection.
