Evaluation of the Efficacy of Stem Cell Therapy in Ovariectomized Osteoporotic Rats Based on Micro-CT and Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective. Osteoporosis is an abnormal bone metabolism disease characterized by microstructural degeneration of bone tissue and reduction in bone mass, resulting in increased brittleness of bone tissue and susceptibility to fracture. Due to the tissue regenerative potential of stem cell transplantation, it is now used in the treatment of various disease models such as osteoporosis. The purpose of this work is to carry out a systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy of stem cell therapy in ovariectomized (OVX) osteoporotic rats. Methods. PubMed, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, Embase, CNKI, and Wanfang Databases were used to search for articles that met the inclusion criteria. Two researchers independently screened the articles that met the inclusion criteria. RevMan 5.3 and STATA 16.0 were used for data analysis. This meta-analysis was registered at INPLASY with reference number ID: INPLASY202150017. Results. Thirteen eligible studies were selected, including 405 rats. The sources of stem cells are divided into four main categories: bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs), amniotic membrane mesenchymal stem cells (AM-MSCs), and human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCB-MSCs). Compared with the OVX group, both stem cell transplantation groups had higher bone mineral density (BMD) (BMSCs: SMD=2.01, 95% CI: [1.38, 2.63], P