There has been considerable advancement over the last few years in the treatment of osteoarthritis, common chronic disease and a major cause of disability in older adults. In this pathology, the entire joint is involved and the regeneration of articular cartilage still remains one of the main challenges, particularly in an actively inflammatory environment. The recent strategies for osteoarthritis treatment are based on the use of different therapeutic solutions such as cell and gene therapies and tissue engineering. In this review, we provide an overview of current regenerative strategies highlighting the pros and cons, challenges and opportunities, and we try to identify areas where future work should be focused in order to advance this field.
Keywords: cartilage; cell-based therapy; gene therapy; osteoarthritis; tissue-based therapy.