Stem Cell Therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Novel Therapeutic Approach.
Dhir Niren GalaVikram GurusamyKrishna PatelSreedevi DamodarGirish SwaminathGautam UllalPublished in: Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) (2021)
Stem cell therapy is a rapidly evolving field of regenerative medicine being employed for the management of various central nervous system disorders. The ability to self-renew, differentiate into specialized cells, and integrate into neuronal networks has positioned stem cells as an ideal mechanism for the treatment of epilepsy. Epilepsy is characterized by repetitive seizures caused by imbalance in the GABA and glutamate neurotransmission following neuronal damage. Stem cells provide benefit by reducing the glutamate excitotoxicity and strengthening the GABAergic inter-neuron connections. Similar to the abnormal neuroanatomic location in epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is caused by hyperarousal in the amygdala and decreased activity of the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex. Thus, stem cells could be used to modulate neuronal interconnectivity. In this review, we provide a rationale for the use of stem cell therapy in the treatment of PTSD.
Keyphrases
- stem cells
- cell therapy
- prefrontal cortex
- social support
- cerebral ischemia
- clinical trial
- induced apoptosis
- temporal lobe epilepsy
- oxidative stress
- palliative care
- cell cycle arrest
- signaling pathway
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- cell proliferation
- cell death
- cognitive impairment
- blood brain barrier
- pi k akt
- smoking cessation