Stem cell therapy as a promising approach in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders

Neurodegenerative diseases in humans such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and Huntington's disease are associated with the loss of neurons or glial cells in the central nervous system. There are limited therapeutic approaches for these diseases,  making stem cell therapy a promising and novel method for these diseases. A variety of cells have been used to treat these diseases. These cells include mesenchymal stem cells, embryonic stem cells, nerve stem cells, etc. These cells use various mechanisms to protect neurons. These mechanisms include nutritional activity, inflammation modulation, cell replacement and so on. Of course, there are some challenges with this therapeutic approach, for example, different treatment approaches need to be chosen for different diseases. Also, the cell type used in a particular disease should be specifically selected. In addition, points such as the administrated dose, the method of transfer, etc. must be controlled. Also, the cells should be used in such a way that they do not cause further problems such as malignancy and the immune system activation. In this study, we review the effective evaluations taken in the cell therapy field against neurological disorders including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, stroke, Huntington's, and multiple sclerosis, and then we describe the challenges and hopes in this field.

Keywords:

stem cells , Neurological disorders , cell therapy , Molecular signaling