Stem cell therapy in Alzheimer's disease: possible benefits and limiting drawbacks.
Masoume AlipourSeyed Massood NabaviLeila ArabMassoud VosoughHossein PakdamanEhsan EhsaniKoorosh ShahpasandPublished in: Molecular biology reports (2018)
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the sixth leading cause of death globally and the main reason for dementia in elderly people. AD is a long-term and progressive neurodegenerative disorder that steadily worsens memory and communicating skills eventually leads to a disabled person of performing simple daily tasks. Unfortunately, numerous clinical trials exploring new therapeutic drugs have encountered disappointing outcomes in terms of improved cognitive performance since they are not capable of halting or stimulating the regeneration of already-damaged neural cells, and merely provide symptomatic relief. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the mechanism of action of stem cell may contribute to the development of novel and effective therapies. The revolutionary discovery of stem cells has cast a new hope for the development of disease-modifying treatments for AD, in terms of their potency in the replenishment of lost cells via differentiating towards specific lineages, stimulating in situ neurogenesis, and delivering the therapeutic agents to the brain. Herein, firstly, we explore the pathophysiology of AD. Next, we summarize the most recent preclinical stem cell reports designed for AD treatment, their benefits and outcomes according to cell type. We briefly review relevant clinical trials and their potential clinical applications in order to find a unique solution to effectively relieve the patients' pain.
Keyphrases
- stem cells
- clinical trial
- induced apoptosis
- cell therapy
- cell cycle arrest
- end stage renal disease
- working memory
- cognitive decline
- chronic pain
- ejection fraction
- small molecule
- chronic kidney disease
- physical activity
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- multiple sclerosis
- mild cognitive impairment
- signaling pathway
- type diabetes
- prognostic factors
- magnetic resonance
- magnetic resonance imaging
- metabolic syndrome
- cell proliferation
- risk assessment
- open label
- white matter
- contrast enhanced
- randomized controlled trial
- brain injury
- skeletal muscle
- human health
- climate change
- insulin resistance