Abstract
The use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) represents an experimental therapeutic modality in the treatment of spinal cord injury. MSC can be harvested from the bone marrow, fat tissue and other peripheral tissues from adult individuals.
Compared to other types of stem cells, MSC are easy to access and expand and they can be used in autologous settings. Over the last 15 years, MSC have been widely studied in experimental spinal cord injury, especially in rodents, with promising results.
MSC support remyelination of demyelinated axons, axonal sprouting, angiogenesis, have immunosuppressive effect and secrete neurotrophic factors that may led to functional improvement. These promising results led to launching of clinical studies in patients with spinal cord injury.
Phase I/II clinical studies showed that the use of MSC represent a safe method. However, functional effect needs to be proved in further clinical studies.
Data suggest that MSC will need to be combined with other methods, such as lesion bridging, scar tissue breakdown and blocking of inhibitory molecules. This paper provides an overview of the use of MSC in experimental and clinical SCI.