Clinical Insights into Mesenchymal Stem Cell Applications for Spinal Cord Injury

This review examines the safety and clinical efficacy of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs)-based therapies in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). The analysis covers 26 clinical studies conducted on patients with varying degrees of the post-SCI neurological deficit. The review highlights the methodology of trials, the source of MSCs, the dosage of cells administered, transplantation methods, patient inclusion criteria, and the methods of evaluating the effectiveness of the therapy. MSC transplantation in SCI was safe and feasible in all the studies summarized in our review. All studies conducted have demonstrated varying degrees of patient improvement and reduction in the severity of neurological deficits. However, further controlled randomized studies on larger numbers of patients are needed to better evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of MS transplantation. The prospects of the enhancement of the efficacy of the SCI cell therapy with MSCs, including their transplantation with other types of stem cells, administration of MSC-derived exosomes, genetic modification of MSCs, use of the MSC- and other-stem-cell-based tissue-engineered scaffolds, and combination of cell therapy with neuromodulation, are discussed.