Acquired brain and spinal cord injury treatment
The theory that brain cells can never regenerate has been challenged by the discovery of
newly formed neurons in the human adult hippocampus or the migration of stem cells in
the brain. These observations have triggered hope for regeneration in the context of
neuronal diseases by using exogenous stem cell sources to replenish or boost the stem cell
population in the brain. Moreover, the limited regenerative capacity of the brain and spinal
cord is an obstacle for traditional treatments of neurodegenerative diseases, such as
autism, cerebral palsy, stroke, and spinal cord injury (SCI).
MSCs are widely used in almost all clinical trials targeting different neuronal diseases,
including multiple sclerosis, stroke, SCI, cerebral palsy, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy,
autism, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and ataxia. Among these trials in which
MSCs were the major cells used, nearly two-thirds were for stroke, SCI, or multiple
sclerosis.
