• Spinal cord injury and stem cell therapy
  • Elham Hasanzadeh,1,* Narges Mahmoodi,2
    1. Department of Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences,
    2. Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences


  • Introduction: In central nervous system (CNS) disorders, unlike the peripheral nervous system (PNS), neurons have less ability to regenerate and reconstruct neural tissue.
  • Methods: One of the most destructive neurological disorders is spinal cord injury (SCI) that so far, various therapeutic methods have been tested in SCI treatments, such as physiotherapy, rehabilitation methods, and pharmacological therapy. Over the last twenty years, as our knowledge about stem cell biology has dramatically developed, stem cell therapies for treating CNS injuries and diseases have evolved and provided an alternative approach for neural regeneration and restoring neurologic function after SCI.
  • Results: The main advantage of stem cells for treating CNS diseases such as SCI is their immunomodulatory activities, neuroprotective effects, and self-renewal potency. They can help the compensation of SCI by modulating the inhibitory environment, re-myelination, formation of new neuronal connections, and limiting secondary injury.
  • Conclusion: The goal of this study is to review the recent studies about stem cell therapies in SCI treatment. Moreover, the increase in our understanding of stem cells and their therapeutic potential can help to discover new treatment approaches for spinal cord injury.
  • Keywords: Spinal cord injury, stem cell therapy, central nervous system, regenerative medicine