Article
Clinical trials using mesenchymal stem cells for spinal cord injury: challenges in generating evidence
Registro en:
ARAÚJO, Lila Teixeira de et al. Clinical trials using mesenchymal stem cells for spinal cord injury: challenges in generating evidence. Cells, v. 11, n. 1019, p. 1-26, 2022.
2073-4409
10.3390/cells11061019
Autor
Araújo, Lila Teixeira de
Macêdo, Carolina Thé
Damasceno, Patrícia Kauanna Fonseca
Neves, Ítalo Gabriel Costa das
Lima, Carla Souza de
Santos, Girlaine Café
Santana, Thaís Alves de
Sampaio, Gabriela Louise de Almeida
Silva, Daniela Nascimento
Villarreal, Cristiane Flora
Chaguri, Alessandra Casemiro de Campos
Silva, Crislaine Gomes da
Mota, Augusto César de Andrade
Badaró, Roberto
Santos, Ricardo Ribeiro dos
Soares, Milena Botelho Pereira
Resumen
Ministério da Saúde.
Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPq).
Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação.
Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia (INCT). Spinal cord injury (SCI) remains an important public health problem which often causes permanent loss of muscle strength, sensation, and function below the site of the injury, generating physical, psychological, and social impacts throughout the lives of the affected individuals, since there are no effective treatments available. The use of stem cells has been investigated as a therapeutic approach for the treatment of SCI. Although a significant number of studies have been conducted in pre-clinical and clinical settings, so far there is no established cell therapy for the treatment of SCI. One aspect that makes it difficult to evaluate the efficacy is the heterogeneity of experimental designs in the clinical trials that have been published. Cell transplantation methods vary widely among the trials, and there are still no standardized protocols or recommendations for the therapeutic use of stem cells in SCI. Among the different cell types, mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are the most frequently tested in clinical trials for SCI treatment. This study reviews the clinical applications of MSCs for SCI, focusing on the critical analysis of 17 clinical trials published thus far, with emphasis on their design and quality. Moreover, it highlights the need for more evidence-based studies designed as randomized controlled trials and potential challenges to be addressed in context of stem cell therapies for SCI.