Mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of spinal cord injuries: A review

Abstract

With technological advances in basic research, the intricate mechanism of secondary delayed spinal cord injury (SCI) continues to unravel at a rapid pace. However, despite our deeper understanding of the molecular changes occurring after initial insult to the spinal cord, the cure for paralysis remains elusive. Current treatment of SCI is limited to early adminis-tration of high dose steroids to mitigate the harmful effect of cord edema that occurs after SCI and to reduce the cascade of secondary delayed SCI. R e-cent evident-based clinical studies have cast doubt on the clinical benefit of steroids in SCI and intense focus on stem cell-based therapy has yielded some encouraging results. An array of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from various sources with novel and promising strategies are being developed to improve function after SCI. In this review, we briefly discuss the pathophysiology of spinal cord injuries and char-acteristics and the potential sources of MSCs that can be used in the treatment of SCI. We will discuss the progress of MSCs application in research, focusing on the neuroprotective properties of MSCs. Finally, we will discuss the results from preclinical and clinical tri-als involving stem cell-based therapy in SCI. Core tip: Despite our deeper understanding of the mo-lecular changes that occurs after the spinal cord injury (SCI), the cure for paralysis remains elusive. In this review, the pathophysiology of SCI and characteris-tics and potential sources of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that can be used in the treatment of SCI were discussed. We also discussed the progress of applica-tion of MSCs in research focusing on the neuropro-tective properties of MSCs. Finally, we discussed the results from preclinical and clinical trials involving stem cell-based therapy in SCI. Dasari VR, Veeravalli KK, Dinh DH. Mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of spinal cord injuries: A review. World J Stem Cells 2014; 6(2): 120-133 Available from: