The Potential of Stem Cell Therapies for Pediatric Neurological Disorders

Until the middle of the 20th century, regeneration of nerve tissue wasconsidered to be impossible, however, nowadays cell replacementtherapy has provided the basis for the development of potentially powerfulnew therapeutic strategies for a broad spectrum of human neurologicaldiseases. Stem cells are a nonspecialized type of cells that are capableof replicating itself but also differentiate into specialized cells, leading tonew tissue formation, repair, and regeneration. Literature review suggeststhat stem cells can migrate from the site of injection into the injured site.In fact, we must believe that stem cells will be used clinically, not as acurative treatment but as part of a therapeutic management. The mostimportant aspect of cell therapy is applying the right cell type to the rightdisease and explanation the right amount of expectation to the patient.There are three types of stem cells based on the differentiation potential,including totipotent, pluripotent and multipotent cells. The origin of thestem cells, can be of embryonal, fetal and adult somatic stem cells. Stemcells have been investigated as a treatment for neurological damagesince the 1990s. For using neurological trial, neurons and glial cells havebeen generated from stem cells as embryonic stem cells (ESCs), inducedpluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) andneural stem cells (NSCs) or neural progenitor cells. MSCs are multipotentcells that generate into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes andcan be prepared from various sources, including autologous bonemarrow-derived mononuclear cells, adipose tissue-derived stem cellsand umbilical cord stem cells. Because of the increasing popularity ofpostnatal umbilical cord stem cell storage, the most easily accessiblecurrent source of stem cells in clinical trials is umbilical cord-derivedstem cells. Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease,multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and stroke are the mainneurological disorders of adults that cell therapy may be effective. Thereare a number of developmental disorders that are considered targets forstem cell therapy, such as, Cerebral palsy and autistic spectrum disorders.Head injury, spinal cord injury, spinal muscular atrophy, neurologicaldeficits in meningomyelocele and poliomyelitis, Duchenne musculardystrophy and neurodegenerative disorders especially LSDs are the mainneurological disorders of pediatric age group that cell therapy may beeffective.

Keywords:

Stem cell therapy , Pediatrics , Neurological disorders