Stem Cell Therapy for Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: A Systematic Review of Preclinical Studies.
Int J Mol Sci
; 22(6)2021 Mar 19.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33808671
ABSTRACT
Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is an important cause of mortality and morbidity in the perinatal period. This condition results from a period of ischemia and hypoxia to the brain of neonates, leading to several disorders that profoundly affect the daily life of patients and their families. Currently, therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is the standard of care in developing countries; however, TH is not always effective, especially in severe cases of HIE. Addressing this concern, several preclinical studies assessed the potential of stem cell therapy (SCT) for HIE. With this systematic review, we gathered information included in 58 preclinical studies from the last decade, focusing on the ones using stem cells isolated from the umbilical cord blood, umbilical cord tissue, placenta, and bone marrow. Outstandingly, about 80% of these studies reported a significant improvement of cognitive and/or sensorimotor function, as well as decreased brain damage. These results show the potential of SCT for HIE and the possibility of this therapy, in combination with TH, becoming the next therapeutic approach for HIE. Nonetheless, few preclinical studies assessed the combination of TH and SCT for HIE, and the existent studies show some contradictory results, revealing the need to further explore this line of research.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Brain Diseases
/
Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain
/
Stem Cell Transplantation
/
Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy
Type of study:
Systematic_reviews
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
/
Newborn
Language:
En
Journal:
Int J Mol Sci
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Portugal