Introduction: Rheumatism is a disease that affects muscles, joints, and bones, and this problem causes inflammation, pain, and other types of problems, although doctors have not yet determined the main cause of the disease, some of its causes can be identified: Genetic factors, incorrect lifestyle, metabolic problems, nervous system problems, etc. were considered. Nowadays, doctors try to stop the progress of this disease by prescribing various drugs and control it temporarily. A person who gets this disease may even be unable to do his daily tasks due to the pain caused by this disease. And on the other hand, the many side effects of the drugs used by these patients make for difficult and exhausting days for them.
So, every person suffering from this disease is undoubtedly looking for pain relief and using an effective treatment method with less side effects. Recently, in country of Iran, scientists have succeeded in producing a medicine using stem cells, which is a cure for many difficult diseases, such as rheumatism and arthritis. Therefore, this research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effects of stem cells on the treatment of rheumatism, and the results and stages of this research can be seen in article.
Methods: This article is a review and field and library methods have been used
Results: From this research, we can reach the conclusion that stem cell is a cure for many diseases and it is an emerging science in the world that many treatments will be based on in the future, these cells that have the capabilities and abilities they have a unique feature that distinguishes them from other cells. But this unique science is still unknown among some people, or if they know it, it is not completely. Rheumatism and joint diseases are among the diseases that did not have a definitive treatment before stem cells, and even if there was something called a treatment, it would only temporarily relieve pain or inflammation, and none of them were definitive, that's why with the development of Kimiacell medicine By Iranian researchers, hope was revived in the hearts of rheumatic patients for recovery And without a doubt, with this drug, which is a more definitive and effective method, many severe joint diseases can be treated.
Conclusion: What is rheumatism?
Rheumatism is the most common joint disease, which is caused by several factors. Such as: age, sex, genetics, bone density, major joint injuries, lifestyle, etc. can be considered as one of these factors [1]. The most important problem in this disease is the excruciating pain of the affected patient and the lack of medicine and definitive treatment. and there are only medicines that slow down the progress of the disease and relieve the patient's pain, but all of them are temporary and have many side effects, and if the patient stops taking his medicine even for a week, all kinds of joint pains will come to him[5].
This has led to an increase in knee joint replacement surgeries and the use of various drugs, and it is clear that the existence of a safe, effective and cheaper treatment that can change the course of the disease will have a significant impact on life and treatment costs in the future [2]. Treatments based on stem cells and cartilage tissue engineering have created new ways to treat this disease, as a biological therapeutic agent for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and tissue repair [1].
Types of rheumatism treatment
Home treatment is one of the methods that is based on traditional medicine and is effective in reducing joint rheumatism pain. For example, using vegetable oils such as olive oil, chamomile, etc. Sleeping with it and massaging the pain area, or using warm teas such as ginger with black pepper, honey and black seeds are only a small part of the traditional medicine treatment methods, but none of them are definitive treatments and only relieve the pain for a short time. Gives [4]. Taking drugs such as: painkillers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Most people with rheumatoid arthritis need to take more than one drug, and the amount of these drugs varies depending on the symptoms because each one works in different ways [3].
Surgery is another way of treatment. If joint pain and inflammation become unbearable or if they are seriously damaged, parts such as hip, knee and sometimes shoulder joints may need to be replaced [2]. Occupational therapy and physical therapy are other methods of treatment that are very effective and help to improve the condition of the patient and improve the quality of daily work with exercise. Treatment with physiotherapy and acupuncture, which reduces swelling and pain and is effective in strengthening the immune system of the affected patient, is also one of the other methods of treatment [8].
Each of the ways to treat this disease have side effects and benefits, and the most important thing about these methods is that the treatment is not definitive, which is important and noteworthy because the patient spends a long time for each of the above methods. Again, he recovers for a short period of time and after a while, chronic pains come back to him, so the existence of an effective method for these patients is very important because none of the people suffering from this disease is willing to take several pills and drugs with high side effects for They don't last long and they are looking for more effective and better ways to treat their disease.
On the other hand, the variety of treatment methods and, accordingly, the high cost of each treatment method annoys patients. Therefore, even though stem cell is a new and almost unknown treatment method among these patients, it has been the most effective method [9].
What is a stem cell?
The building block of the body of any organism is called a cell. All cells do not have the same function and shape, and the types of cells include: nerve cells (neurons), muscle cells (myocytes), skin cells (epithelial cells), blood cells and bone cells (osteocytes), cartilage cells. It is "chondrocytes" [3]. The origin of all these cells is the egg cell, which after multiple divisions and differentiation of the resulting cells, leads to the formation of the living body [5].
The stem cell is called the mother of all cells. Due to the unique abilities of stem cells, these cells are considered popular and attractive topics in biology and medical sciences today [6].
These cells have the ability to transform into all kinds of cells, including blood cells, heart cells, nerve cells, cartilage cells, etc. They also play a role in repairing damaged tissues and fixing defects in that tissue [3]. The human body consists of 200 different types of cells, and the task of building, supplying and maintaining cells is the responsibility of stem cells, and depending on the type of different tissues, they make up less than one to five percent of the cells of each tissue [2].
Types of stem cells
There are types of embryonic, adult and umbilical cord blood stem cells, and the types of stem cells based on differentiation ability include: omnipotent, pluripotent, multipotent and monopotent. Omnipotent or embryonic cells are cells that are capable of becoming all cells, these cells can be obtained from four- or five-day-old embryos resulting from in vitro fertilization and grown in culture environments [7].
Pluripotent cells are cells that have already been affected by cell differentiation and can only divide and differentiate in a range of cells. Multipotent cells are a lower class of pluripotent cells and differentiate into cells related to a specific tissue. Unipotent cells have the lowest differentiation power and the greatest limitation among stem cells, and they only have the ability to make one differentiated cell[10].
The history of stem cells
One of the most important applications of stem cells to date has been bone marrow transplantation. In the early 19th century, doctors prescribed bone marrow stem cells as food for patients with cancer or anemia. Although this method was never useful, researchers found that injecting bone marrow cells from a healthy mouse into the blood system of a mouse with a defective bone marrow can greatly help restore the bone marrow, and for this reason, the thought of bone marrow transplantation. They also fell in humans. Greppe performed several bone marrow transplants in France in the late 1950s, but bone marrow transplants were never performed on a large scale.
Until 1958, a French researcher succeeded in discovering histocompatibility antigens in humans. These antigens, which are found on the surface of most body cells, increase the ability of the body's immune system to identify foreign cells [6].
The greatest scientific achievement in the field of stem cells was achieved in 1998. This year, Thomson and his colleagues were able to use five cell lines from the blastocytes of human embryos. The cell lines obtained by Thomson and colleagues expressing stem cell markers had high telomerase activity, and their injection into immunosuppressed mice led to teratoma formation.
Later studies on embryonic stem cells showed that these cells have the ability to differentiate into cells from all three embryonic layers: ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm, and it was found that these cells can have therapeutic potential.
And they also have the ability to differentiate into dopamine-producing nerve cells [5].
Stem cell therapy
Recently, the researchers of Royan Research Institute have succeeded in obtaining and making a drug using stem cells, which has been tested on knee joints and has been found to be effective. This method is much more effective in relieving pain and improving the patient than other methods. Success is effective for treating many difficult diseases such as: rheumatism, arthritis, arthrosis, etc. This drug is made under the name Kimiacell, which is suitable for all people without genetic compatibility.