Open AccessProgress in clinical trials of cell transplantation for the treatment of spinal cord injury: how many questions remain unanswered?
Author(s) -
Xuchang Hu,
Yubao Lu,
Yong-Na Yang,
Xuewen Kang,
Yonggang Wang,
Bing Ma,
Shu Guo Xing
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
neural regeneration research/neural regeneration research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.93
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1876-7958
pISSN - 1673-5374
DOI - 10.4103/1673-5374.293130
Subject(s) - medicine , spinal cord injury , olfactory ensheathing glia , stem cell , transplantation , neural stem cell , spinal cord , cell therapy , mesenchymal stem cell , stem cell therapy , progenitor cell , umbilical cord , neuroscience , pathology , surgery , central nervous system , immunology , biology , psychiatry , olfactory bulb , genetics
Spinal cord injury can lead to severe motor, sensory and autonomic nervous dysfunctions. However, there is currently no effective treatment for spinal cord injury. Neural stem cells and progenitor cells, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, olfactory ensheathing cells, umbilical cord blood stem cells, adipose stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells, oligodendrocyte precursor cells, macrophages and Schwann cells have been studied as potential treatments for spinal cord injury. These treatments were mainly performed in animals. However, subtle changes in sensory function, nerve root movement and pain cannot be fully investigated with animal studies. Although these cell types have shown excellent safety and effectiveness in various animal models, sufficient evidence of efficacy for clinical translation is still lacking. Cell transplantation should be combined with tissue engineering scaffolds, local drug delivery systems, postoperative adjuvant therapy and physical rehabilitation training as part of a comprehensive treatment plan to provide the possibility for patients with SCI to return to normal life. This review summarizes and analyzes the clinical trials of cell transplantation therapy in spinal cord injury, with the aim of providing a rational foundation for the development of clinical treatments for spinal cord injury.