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Review
. 2025 Jul 21;45(1):23.
doi: 10.1186/s41232-025-00380-7.

Potential therapeutic applications of stem cells in animal models of ocular affections

Taghreed A Hassan  1 , Yara S Abouelela  2 , Hamdy Rizk  2 , Ayman Tolba  2
Affiliations
Review

Potential therapeutic applications of stem cells in animal models of ocular affections

Taghreed A Hassan et al. Inflamm Regen. .

Abstract

Background: Ocular affections are serious damage to the ocular tissue that results in impaired vision or blindness. Cell-based therapies are a potentially effective therapeutic technique that entails using stem-like precursor cells to induce differentiation of specific cell types and implanting the cells to improve vision in the affected tissue area.

Methods: Numerous clinical trials were started to investigate the potential benefits of stem cells for treating ocular affections, based on several encouraging findings from the preclinical research. Following our review, data were collected from various databases, "Google Scholar, Springer, Elsevier, Egyptian Knowledge Bank, ProQuest, and PubMed" using different keywords such as corneal ulcer, retinopathy, glaucoma, ocular regeneration, and stem cells to investigate the various methods for regeneration of ocular affections. The data were obtained and analyzed.

Results: This review includes tables that show all types of stem cells that were used to treat ocular diseases, such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), hematopoietic stem cells, neural stem cells, embryonic stem cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells. The several characteristics of MSCs that aid in the restoration and regeneration of injured ocular tissue are outlined in this paper, along with their potential applications in the management of ocular degenerative diseases, as determined by physical, histological, immunohistochemical, and biochemical evaluations. Finally, our review highlights the most effective regenerative strategies that assist in rapid ocular regeneration in a variety of animal models, including mice, rats, rabbits, and goats.

Conclusion: With the promising results of multiple preclinical studies, stem cell therapy is still a great choice for treating ocular degenerative illnesses. To improve the clinical outcomes, co-transplantation of two or more cell types may be a possibility for future treatment alternatives.

Keywords: Animals; Glaucoma; Limbal deficiency; Macular degeneration; Ocular regeneration; Retinopathy; Stem cells.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: No approval of research ethics committees was required to accomplish the goals of this study because it was a review article and was conducted by collecting and summarizing the previous studies on ocular affections. All authors read and approved the manuscript. Competing interests: There are no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Different therapeutic types of stem cells used in ocular affections
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Summary of stem cell trials in ocular affections in animal models
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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