Cell therapy involves the transplantation of human cells to replace or repair the damaged tissues and modulate the mechanisms underlying disease initiation and progression in the body. Nowadays, many different types of cell-based therapy are developed and used to treat a variety of diseases. In the past decade, cell-free therapy has emerged as a novel approach in regenerative medicine after the discovery that the transplanted cells exerted their therapeutic effect mainly through the secretion of paracrine factors. More and more evidence showed that stem cell-derived secretome, i.e., growth factors, cytokines, and extracellular vesicles, can repair the injured tissues as effectively as the cells. This finding has spurred a new idea to employ secretome in regenerative medicine. Despite that, will cell-free therapy slowly replace cell therapy in the future? Or are these two modes of treatment still needed to address different diseases and conditions? This review provides an indepth discussion about the values of stem cells and secretome in regenerative medicine. In addition, the safety, efficacy, advantages, and disadvantages of using these two modes of treatment in regenerative medicine are also critically reviewed.

Rapid growth of the geriatric population has been made possible with advancements in pharmaceutical and health sciences. Hence, age-associated diseases are becoming more common. Aging encompasses deterioration of the immune system, known as immunosenescence. Dysregulation of the immune cell production, differentiation, and functioning lead to a chronic subclinical inflammatory state termed inflammaging. The hallmarks of the aging immune system are decreased naïve cells, increased memory cells, and increased serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation is a promising solution to halt immunosenescence as the cells have excellent immunomodulatory functions and low immunogenicity. This review compiles the present knowledge of the causes and changes of the aging immune system and the potential of MSC transplantation as a regenerative therapy for immunosenescence.

Several bacterial species cause post-operative infections, which has been a critical health concern among hospital patients. Our study in this direction is a much-needed exploratory study that was carried out at the National Heart Institute (IJN) of Malaysia to examine the virulence properties of causative bacteria obtained from postoperative patients. The bacterial isolates and data were provided by the IJN. Antibiotic resistance gene patterns, and the ability to form biofilm were investigated for 127 isolates. Klebsiella pneumoniae (36.2%) was the most common isolate collected, which was followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (26%), Staphylococcus aureus (23.6%), Streptococcus spp. (8.7%) and Acinetobacter baumannii (5.5%). There were 49 isolates that showed the presence of multidrug resistance genes. The mecA gene was surprisingly found in methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA), which also carried the ermA gene from those erythromycin-susceptible strains. The phenotypic antibiotic resistance profiles varied greatly between isolates. Findings from the biofilm assay revealed that 44 of the 127 isolates demonstrated the ability to produce biofilms. Our findings provide insights into the possibility of some of these bacteria surviving under antibiotic stress, and some antibiotic resistance genes being silenced.

Neonates, especially premature newborns, have delicate skin that is susceptible to injury. Furthermore, they may acquire congenital skin diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa and aplasia cutis congenita that need prompt and effective treatment to reduce morbidity and mortality. Conventional management involves the covering of wound with a dressing, e.g., hydrogel, hydrocolloid and hydrofiber, which can maintain a moist wound environment that favours wound healing. More recently, regenerative medicine approaches using stem cells and skin substitutes have been introduced as bioactive substitutes to conventional wound dressings to promote and expedite neonatal wound healing, especially the difficulty to treat wounds that are deep and affect a large surface area. To date, the number of preclinical and clinical studies using stem cells and skin substitutes to treat neonatal skin diseases is still very limited. Results from these studies showed that regenerative medicine approaches are safe and effective in promoting the healing of neonatal skin diseases. In future, stem cells and skin substitutes can be combined with gene therapy to ameliorate injured skin in neonatal patients. Besides, cell-free approaches using the stem cell-derived secretome and extracellular vesicles are also gaining popularity as they are associated with fewer risks and hazards compared to stem cells. Herein, we discuss neonatal skin diseases, neonatal wound healing, the standard therapy for neonatal skin diseases, regenerative medicine approaches to promote neonatal skin regeneration and the future perspective of regenerative medicine in neonatal wound care.