[The Cell Therapy in Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury]

Abstract

The opportunities and the most promising ways of using cellular technology in traumatic spinal cord injury are considered in this review. A large number of experimental and clinical studies with the use of different types of cells: embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, Schwann cells, olfactory mucosa cells, and others – was conducted. The use of these types of cells in traumatic spinal cord injury treatment often demonstrated a positive therapeutic effect: the motor and sensory function recovery of the spinal cord. However, some types of cell preparations involve some methodological and ethical problems; some types of cell therapies are ineffective or give rise to side effects. These factors complicate the selection of optimal cell therapy for the traumatic spinal cord injury treatment. The most promising cells seem to be the cells of the olfactory mucosa. Getting the olfactory mucosa is considered to be a feasible and safe procedure for patients. The clinical application of the cells of the olfactory mucosa is effective in motor function recovery due to remyelination and axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury. These cells are tissue-specific and autologous since they can be obtained from a patient with spinal cord injury, and after cultivation, expansion, and directed differentiation they can be transplanted to the same patient. The presented benefits of olfactory mucosa cells open up the possibility for its clinical application in the cell therapy.