Source https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/scd.2019.0073

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a relatively frequent disease within a range 0.5-5.0% of population, with higher frequency in females. While a resultant spinal deformity is usually medically benign condition, it produces far going psychosocial consequences, which warrants attention. The etiology of AIS is unknown and current therapeutic approaches are symptomatic only, and frequently inconvenient or invasive. Muscular contribution to AIS is widely recognized, although it did not translate to clinical routine as yet. Muscle asymmetry has been documented by pathological examinations as well as systemic muscle disorders frequently lead to scoliosis. It has been also reported numerous genetic, metabolic and radiological alterations in patients with AIS, which are linked to muscular and neuromuscular aspects. Therefore, muscles might be considered as an attractive and still insufficiently exploited therapeutic target for AIS. Stem cell-based regenerative medicine is rapidly gaining momentum based on the tremendous progress in understanding of developmental biology. It comes also with a toolbox of various stem cells such as satellite cells or mesenchymal stem cells, which could be transplanted, as well as the knowledge acquired in research on regenerative medicine can be applied to manipulation of endogenous stem cells to obtain desired therapeutic goals. Importantly, paravertebral muscles are located relatively superficially, therefore they can be an easy target for minimally invasive approaches to treatment of AIS. It comes in pair with a fast progress in image guidance, which allows for precise delivery of therapeutic agents including stem cells to various organs such as brain, muscles and others. Summing up, it seems that there is a link between AIS, muscles and stem cells, which might be worth of further investigations with a long-term goal of setting foundations for eventual bench-to-beside translation.PMID: 31170887 DOI: 10.1089/scd.2019.0073