Umbilical cord blood stem cell therapy in premature brain injury: Opportunities and challenges

Abstract

Preterm birth and associated brain injury are the primary cause of cerebral palsy and developmental disabilities and are among the most serious global health issues that modern society faces. Current therapy for infants suffering from premature brain injury is still mainly supportive, and there are no effective treatments. Thus there is a pressing need for comparative and translational studies on how to reduce brain injury and to increase regeneration and brain repair in preterm infants. There is strong supporting evidence for the use of umbilical cord blood (UCB)‐derived stem cell therapy for treating preterm brain injury and neurological sequelae. UCB‐derived stem cell therapy is effective in many animal models and has been shown to be feasible in clinical trials. Most of these therapies are still experimental, however. In this review, we focus on recent advances on the efficacy of UCB‐derived stem cell therapy in preterm infants with brain injury, and discuss the potential mechanisms behind their therapeutic effects as well as application strategies for future preclinical and clinical trials.

Changes in the live birth profile in Henan, China: A hospital registry‐based study

“…This aligns with other reports showing that preterm birth is the leading cause of death in children under 5 years, [29][30][31] especially infants with low gestational age and very low birthweight. Currently, there is no efficient therapeutic strategy that can reduce death related to very preterm complications, [32][33][34] and it is not always possible to prevent or reduce preterm birth even when risk factors are identified. 35 Several high-risk factors contributed to the preterm birth rates observed here, including being male, gravidity, parity, advanced maternal age, rupture of membrane, multiple pregnancy, hypertension, and placenta previa, and most of these are not modifiable.…”

Umbilical cord blood-derived cell therapy for perinatal brain injury: A systematic review & meta-analysis of preclinical studies - Part B

“…UCBCs can be delivered locally around the site of injury (intracerebral, intraventricular, intrathecal, intranasal) or systemically (intravenous, intraarterial, intraperitoneal). [7] In our review, three outcomes showed statistically significant differences between the method of delivery. Two of these outcomes (astrogliosis in WM and microglial activation in GM) favoured intraventricular/intrathecal administration over systemic routes and the third outcome (motor function measured by cylinder test) favoured intraperitoneal route of cell administration over local routes.…”

Efficacy and Safety of Stem Cell Therapy in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Secondly, there are two ways of cell injection: intravenous injection and intrathecal injection. Intravenous infusion of cells may limit the homing effect, cells could be trapped in organs such as lungs, heart, liver or kidney and get blocked by the blood-brain barrier, which might reduce the therapeutic effect on ASD ( 45 , 46 ). Furthermore, only two studies were followed up for 12 months, such a short period is not conducive to observing progress in the improvement of core symptoms of autism.…”