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Review
. 2015:2015:132172.
doi: 10.1155/2015/132172. Epub 2015 Jul 9.

Cell Therapy Augments Functional Recovery Subsequent to Spinal Cord Injury under Experimental Conditions

Vikram Sabapathy  1 , George Tharion  2 , Sanjay Kumar  1
Affiliations
Review

Cell Therapy Augments Functional Recovery Subsequent to Spinal Cord Injury under Experimental Conditions

Vikram Sabapathy et al. Stem Cells Int. 2015.

Abstract

The spinal cord injury leads to enervation of normal tissue homeostasis ultimately leading to paralysis. Until now there is no proper cure for the treatment of spinal cord injury. Recently, cell therapy in animal spinal cord injury models has shown some progress of recovery. At present, clinical trials are under progress to evaluate the efficacy of cell transplantation for the treatment of spinal cord injury. Different types of cells such as pluripotent stem cells derived neural cells, mesenchymal stromal cells, neural stem cells, glial cells are being tested in various spinal cord injury models. In this review we highlight both the advances and lacuna in the field of spinal cord injury by discussing epidemiology, pathophysiology, molecular mechanism, and various cell therapy strategies employed in preclinical and clinical injury models and finally we discuss the limitations and ethical issues involved in cell therapy approach for treating spinal cord injury.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mechanism of spinal cord injury.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Clinical trials in spinal cord injury using cell therapy. Bone marrow MSCs (BMMSCs), bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMNSCs), central nervous system cells (CNSCs), umbilical cord blood cells (UCBCs), umbilical cord blood MSCs (UCBMSCs), Schwann cells (SCs), olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs), and adipocyte stem cells (ASCs).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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