Cadaveric Research for Understanding Mechanisms and Advancing Diagnosis and Treatment of Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review

Background/Objectives: Osteoarthritis (OA) mechanisms are extensively investigated to enable the development of improved diagnostics and therapeutic strategies. Cadaveric tissues are frequently used as “healthy” comparators in mechanistic studies and as laboratory models for the development of new surgical techniques and biomechanical studies. In parallel, advanced cell-based therapies for OA are emerging; however, their usage remains limited, particularly because of the restricted availability and variability of living donor tissues. This review evaluates the contribution of cadaveric tissues to our understanding of OA pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment development. Methods: A PRISMA-compliant literature search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Studies involving cadaveric human tissues in OA research were included; animal studies, reviews, and clinical studies without cadaveric samples were excluded. Results: A total of 120 records were identified, of which 52 met the inclusion criteria. Most studies (n = 22) used cadaveric tissues to investigate mechanisms of joint degeneration and OA pathophysiology. The remaining studies were distributed between the development or optimization of diagnostic techniques (n = 9) and orthopedic or related therapeutic approaches (n = 21). Studies exploring cellular therapies derived from cadaveric tissues were scarce and were predominantly identified through citation tracking and reference list screening. Conclusions: Cadaveric studies have contributed to OA research, particularly in the elucidation of its mechanisms. Their potential in the development of cadaveric-derived cellular therapies for regenerative medicine is still in a preliminary phase of development and analysis. Future research should prioritize standardization and optimization of such approaches for eventual clinical applications.