Mechanisms of stem cell therapy in spinal cord injuries

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Every year, 0.93 million people worldwide suffer from spinal cord injury (SCI) with irre-trievable sequelae. Rehabilitation, currently the only available treatment, does not restore damaged tissues; therefore, the functional recovery of patients remains limited. The pathophysiology of spinal cord injuries is heterogeneous, implying that potential therapeutic targets differ depending on the time of injury onset, the degree of injury, or the spinal level of injury. In recent years, despite a significant number of clinical trials based on various types of stem cells, these aspects of injury have not been effectively considered, resulting in difficult outcomes of trials. In a specialty such as can-cerology, precision medicine based on a patient’s characteristics has brought indisputable therapeutic advances. The objective of the present review is to promote the development of precision medicine in the field of SCI. Here, we first describe the multifaceted pathophysiology of SCI, with the temporal changes after injury, the characteristics of the chronic phase, and the subtypes of complete injury. We then detail the appropriate targets and related mechanisms of the different types of stem cell therapy for each pathological condition. Finally, we highlight the great potential of stem cell therapy in cervical SCI.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2676
JournalCells
Volume10
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021 Oct

Keywords

  • Activities of daily living
  • Complete injury
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Stem cell therapy
  • Target of clinical trial
  • Translational research

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Medicine(all)

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