General information about cell therapy methods and diseases treated with stem cells
Cell therapy is an innovative method of treating diseases that allows you to restore diseased organs and parts of the body by transplanting healthy and new cells.
Methods of cell therapy are based on removal the cells from the human body, reproduction, modification, and subsequent transplantation. These methods have already been successfully used in regenerative medicine to repair damaged tissues and organs, in the treatment of hereditary diseases and cancer, in the treatment of severe cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and autoimmune diseases.
One of the most common areas of cell therapy is considered to be stem cell therapy. The discovery of stem cells is considered one of the most important achievements of mankind. Due to their ability to differentiate into any tissue, stem cells can be used to treat a huge number of diseases.
To date, they are developed and implemented in clinical practice techniques for the treatment of more than 70 different diseases using stem cells. Stem cell therapy is often used in cases where traditional treatments are powerless.
Diseases that are treated with stem cells:
Autoimmune diseases:
– Systemic lupus erythematosus
– Autoimmune glomerulonephritis
– Crohn’s disease
– Rheumatoid arthritis
– Myasthenia
Diseases of the cardiovascular system:
– Myocardial infarction in the acute phase and subsequent rehabilitation
– Ischemic heart disease and cardiosclerosis
– Heart failure
– Myocardial dystrophy of different genesis
– Hypertension with retinopathy
– Atherosclerosis of the aorta and blood vessels of the brain
Vascular diseases:
– Vasculitis
– Limb ischemia (including critical)
Diseases of the endocrine system:
– Type II diabetes
– Disorders associated with type I and II diabetes
– Hyperthyroidism
– Hypothyroidism
– Thyrotoxicosis
Diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system:
– Stroke
– Rehabilitation after strokes and traumatic brain injuries
– Cerebrovascular disorders
– Injuries to the brain and spinal cord, their consequences
– Paralysis and its consequences
– Multiple sclerosis
– Parkinson’s disease
– Alzheimer’s disease
– Raynaud’s disease
– Myodystrophy
– Duchenne muscular dystrophy
– Disorders of the peripheral nervous system of various origins
– Neuralgia
– Inflammation of the sciatic nerve
– Sleep disorders
– Chronic fatigue syndrome
– Cerebral palsy
– Mental retardation
– Consequences of meningitis
– Consequences of neonatal hypoxia
– Posthypoxic encephalopathy
– Bulbar syndrome
– Myasthenia
– Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
– Cerebral infarction
– Cerebral ischemia
– Dementia
– Encephalopathy
Skin diseases:
– Psoriasis
– Cosmetic skin defects
– Scars after burns, ulcers, surgery
– Dermatitis
– Neurodermatitis
– Eczema
– Atopic dermatitis
Diseases of the musculoskeletal system:
– Osteochondrosis of the spine
– Degenerative changes in the joints
– Osteoporosis
– Osteoarthritis
– Arthritis
– Dysplasia of the hip joints
– Gout
– Coxarthrosis
– Fractures
– Injuries, consequences of injuries
– Muscular dystrophy
Diseases of the immune system:
– Immune system disorders in women with a complicated course of menopause
– Secondary immunodeficiency of various etiologies
– Immunodeficiency after chemotherapy
Diseases of the genitourinary system:
– Glomerulonephritis
– Prostatitis
– Reproductive disorders in men and women
– Violation of potency
– Ovarian dysfunction
Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract:
– Gastroduodenitis
– Gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer
– Colitis of various etiologies
– Dyskinesia of the intestine and biliary tract
– Pancreatitis
– Cirrhosis
– Consequences of hepatitis B and C.
– Cholecystitis
– Chronic and acute hepatitis
– Acute hepatitis with severe jaundice and hepatocellular insufficiency
– Chronic hepatocellular insufficiency
– Hepatic coma
The above-mentioned list of diseases, in which stem cell therapy has been successful, is not complete.
Stem cells are divided into several main types, depending on the source of their production: embryonic, induced embryonic (iPS cells), fetal, neonatal, and postnatal (adult stem cells). Human embryonic stem cells are removed from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst embryoblast at an early stage of embryonic development. They are considered pluripotent, in other words, able to differentiate into all types of tissues that make up the adult body. In 1998, American scientist James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin in Madison was able to remove them and obtain the first line of human embryonic stem cells.
The discovery of the possibility of reprogramming adult human somatic cells into pluripotent cells (in other words, the transformation of an adult cell into a stem) belongs to the Japanese scientist Xinye Yamanaka. His work was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 2012. This type of cell is called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). Human skin fibroblasts are the most common source of somatic cells for reprogramming and obtaining personal pluripotent stem cells. Both embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells are not used for therapy in their native form. They need to be pre-directed differentiated into a specific type of cells or tissues for the purposes of substitution therapy. Thus, only derivatives of embryonic stem and iPS cells can be used for treatment.
Fetal stem cells are tissue-specific cells (mesenchymal, hematopoietic, neuronal, and others) derived from fetal material after an abortion procedure (usually 6-12 weeks of gestation, i.e. fetal development). Fetal stem cells are multipotent and unipotent stem cells.
Stem cells derived from human neonatal tissues (fetoplacental complex tissues obtained after childbirth), such as umbilical cord, umbilical cord blood, placenta, amnion, which are widely used in clinical and experimental medicine and are a source of mainly mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells.
The main sources of postnatal stem cells, or stem cells of the adult body, are currently recognized as bone marrow, adipose tissue, and peripheral blood. Mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells are isolated from these tissues.
Extensive studies of the properties of MSCs have been conducted in recent years around the world. Today no one doubts the unique immunomodulatory and regenerative properties of these cells. MSCs are multipotent cells that can be isolated from different tissues. The main sources of MSC of the adult body (adult MSC) today are bone marrow, adipose tissue, peripheral blood. Tissues of the fetoplacental complex, or neonatal tissues, which include the umbilical cord, umbilical cord blood, placenta, amniotic membrane, which remain after childbirth and have long been considered biological waste, are also a rich source of MSCs. The number of adult MSCs obtained with a single collection procedure varies depending on the type of source tissue, the age of the donor, and also their health.
Scaling of MSCs in order to increase their number is carried out outside the body by culturing in vitro, as the resulting number of cells is usually small to achieve a therapeutic effect in a particular pathology. It is known that with age the number of MSCs in humans decreases significantly, in addition, the spectrum of regulatory molecules and growth factors that secrete cells changes. After an introduction into the bloodstream, MSCs have the ability to go to the site of injury or inflammation where they modulate the innate and adaptive immune response. Thus, they help to repair damaged organs or tissues through paracrine and endocrine signals, reducing inflammation and promoting the formation of new blood vessels and capillaries, thereby improving the regeneration process.
An important area of regenerative medicine should be recognized clinical and experimental use of somatic cells isolated from the human body for further transplantation and cell therapy. To this purpose, today are widely used specialized cells such as fibroblasts, keratinocytes, chondrocytes, endothelial cells, which are pre-scaling outside the body. Growing tissues and organs in a biotechnological laboratory open up new opportunities in the field of transplantology.
Stem cells are divided into three main groups depending on the source of their production: embryonic, fetal, and postnatal (adult stem cells).
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) form the inner cell mass (ICM), or embryoblast, in the early stages of embryonic development. They are pluripotent, which means they are able to differentiate into all types of cells of the three germ layers, except for cells of extraembryonic organs (placenta and yolk sac).
Fetal stem cells are obtained from fetal material after abortion (usually the gestation period, i.e. fetal development, is 7-12 weeks). Fetal stem cells are a mixture of multipotent and unipotent stem cells.
Stem cells derived from postnatal tissues of the human body (after birth) and postpartum material (placenta, umbilical cord) are widely used in clinical and experimental medicine. The source of the above cellular material is mesenchymal stem cells of bone marrow, adipose tissue, umbilical cord, and hematopoietic stem cells of peripheral blood, bone marrow, and umbilical cord blood.
An important area of regenerative medicine should be recognized clinical and experimental use of somatic cells removed from the human body for further transplantation and cell therapy. For this purpose, fibroblasts, keratinocytes, chondrocytes, endothelial cells, and other cultured in vitro cells are widely used today. Growing tissues and organs in a biotechnological laboratory open up new opportunities in the field of transplantation.