![]() Hereditary disorders further limit the benefits of UCSCs. These cells, however, lose their advantage due to slow engraftment, limited single-dose availability, and long-term storage issues. UCSCs overcome the ethical concerns faced by the ESCs due to the ease of collection postpartum and minimal processing while posing no risk for the mother or the child. Currently, these comprise the most widely employed therapeutic strategy. ![]() The distinctive advantage of the BMSCs over other cell types is the lack of ethical issues for acquisition and administration. Because these are adult cells, these are easily available and are not tumorigenic. Īmong ASCs, BMSCs take the lead in stem cell therapy in a wide variety of neurological disorders owing to their robust safety profile and efficient integration into host parenchyma. Limited supply, high degree of heterogeneity in the cell viability and cellular composition, and ethical issues hamper their clinical application. FSCs are multipotent cells obtained from fetal tissues of natural, spontaneous abortuses that undergo in utero death within a specific gestational age range. However, ESCs tend to be highly tumorigenic, require considerable manipulation, and are in the hotbed of ethical debates. Their most obvious benefit is their pluripotency. ESCs are pluripotent, self-renewing cells derived from the inner mass of the preimplantation blastocyst. ASCs are further classified into bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs), umbilical cord stem cells (UCSCs), and adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs). ĭepending on the source, stem cells are classified as embryonic stem cells (ESCs), fetal stem cells (FSCs), adult stem cells (ASCs), and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The body contains stem cell “niches,” i.e., specific regulatory microenvironments conducive to the maintenance, proliferation, and differentiation of stem cells. Stem cells have the capacity to renew the tissues that they populate. Given these properties, harnessing the potential of stem cells as a therapy to attenuate disease progression for neurodegenerative disorders, along with customized rehabilitative regimes, has gained traction in recent years. Exercise has also been shown to enhance the mobilization and recruitment of these cells. These cells hold the unique capacity to self-renew indefinitely while also giving rise to differentiated progeny under defined physiological conditions, thus repopulating damaged tissue. Stem cells are a potent weapon in the fight against neurodegeneration. Studies worldwide endorse the safety and efficacy of stem cells as a therapeutic intervention, for a variety of neurological disorders, including ALS/MND. Multidisciplinary rehabilitation is a key in managing secondary complications of the disease. Pharmacological treatment includes riluzole (glutamate inhibition), edaravone (effective only in the early stages), and Nuedexta (for treating pseudobulbar affect). Multidisciplinary symptomatic management is the sole option that can be availed by patients. The pathophysiology is multifarious (see Section 3.1), causing poor prognosis to be the major hurdle faced by clinicians worldwide. The male/female ratio is reported to be between 1 and 3 but varies with population and age. Diagnosis is confirmed via thorough neuro-electrophysiological investigations. Motor neuron disease (MND) is a set of heterogeneous, idiopathic neurodegenerative syndromes characterized by progressive degeneration of anterior horn cells of the spinal cord, clinically characterized by weak and wasting musculature, which is eventually fatal. Although not a definitive solution yet, stem cells have been verified to have slowed and/or halted disease progression in a subset of ALS/MND patients. Compelling preclinical as well as clinical evidence abounds that stem cells hold great potential as a therapy for ALS/MND. Coupled with rigorous rehabilitation, this powerful treatment modality has been shown to slow disease progression, improve quality of life, and increase survival, along with being well tolerated by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)/MND patients. A multitude of vitalizing effects, both paracrine and somatic, a robust safety profile, as well as ease of availability make a strong case for using these cells for therapeutic purposes. Stem cell therapy is a potent approach for the treatment of this devastating disease. Current standard therapy only improves lifespan by a few months palliative care is the only option available for patients. Over 150 years since it was first described, various therapeutic approaches have been tested in the quest of a cure but with little success. Motor neuron disease (MND) is an insidious, fatal disorder that progresses with the selective loss of anterior horn cells of the spinal column.
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