Stem Cells in the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain: Research Progress of Mechanism

Liu, Meichen; Li, Kai; Wang, Yunyun; Zhao, Guoqing; Jiang, Jinlan

doi:10.1155/2020/8861251

Cited by 23 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 101 publications

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“…Given the low survival rate of the transplanted NPCs in our experiment as well as in comparable studies, their observed neuroprotective and neuroregenerative properties, even in such small quantities, are indeed remarkable [ 20 , 30 , 33 , 47 , 61 ]. While not assessed in our current experiment, it is noteworthy that transplanted NPCs have been associated with a reduction of neuropathic pain after SCI in animal models as well, possibly mediated by paracrine release of anti-inflammatory cytokines or the general attenuation of the cellular inflammatory response [ 70 , 71 ]. Future studies, therefore, should focus on synergistic treatment approaches, combining NPC-transplantation with, e.g., neuroprotective agents or interventions to increase survival and differentiation of the engrafted NPCs, which might considerably increase their neuroregenerative potential.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Effects of Neural Precursor Cell Transplantation on Secondary Injury Processes and Functional Recovery after Severe Cervical Contusion-Compression Spinal Cord Injury

Younsi

Zheng

Riemann

et al. 2021

IJMS

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Cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a devastating event without adequate treatment options despite decades of research. In this context, the usefulness of common preclinical SCI models has been criticized. We, therefore, aimed to use a clinically relevant animal model of severe cervical SCI to assess the long-term effects of neural precursor cell (NPC) transplantation on secondary injury processes and functional recovery. To this end, we performed a clip contusion-compression injury at the C6 level in 40 female Wistar rats and a sham surgery in 10 female Wistar rats. NPCs, isolated from the subventricular zone of green fluorescent protein (GFP) expressing transgenic rat embryos, were transplanted ten days after the injury. Functional recovery was assessed weekly, and FluoroGold (FG) retrograde fiber-labeling, as well as manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI), were performed prior to the sacrifice of the animals eight weeks after SCI. After cryosectioning of the spinal cords, immunofluorescence staining was conducted. Results were compared between the treatment groups (NPC, Vehicle, Sham) and statistically analyzed (p < 0.05 was considered significant). Despite the severity of the injury, leading to substantial morbidity and mortality during the experiment, long-term survival of the engrafted NPCs with a predominant differentiation into oligodendrocytes could be observed after eight weeks. While myelination of the injured spinal cord was not significantly improved, NPC treated animals showed a significant increase of intact perilesional motor neurons and preserved spinal tracts compared to untreated Vehicle animals. These findings were associated with enhanced preservation of intact spinal cord tissue. However, reactive astrogliosis and inflammation where not significantly reduced by the NPC-treatment. While differences in the Basso–Beattie–Bresnahan (BBB) score and the Gridwalk test remained insignificant, animals in the NPC group performed significantly better in the more objective CatWalk XT gait analysis, suggesting some beneficial effects of the engrafted NPCs on the functional recovery after severe cervical SCI.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Effects of Neural Precursor Cell Transplantation on Secondary Injury Processes and Functional Recovery after Severe Cervical Contusion-Compression Spinal Cord Injury

Younsi

Zheng

Riemann

et al. 2021

IJMS

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“…Similarly, damaged axons have been reported to secrete factors that activate the extracellular signal-related MAPK signal pathway in Schwann cells, which is crucial for inflammatory regulation ( Figure 3 ) [ 86 ]. There are four major MAPK-related pathways, namely, the ERK1/2, JNK, p38, and ERK5 cascades.…”

Section: Stem Cell Therapymentioning

confidence: 99%

Stem Cell Therapy for Modulating Neuroinflammation in Neuropathic Pain

Joshi

Kim

et al. 2021

IJMS

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Neuropathic pain (NP) is a complex, debilitating, chronic pain state, heterogeneous in nature and caused by a lesion or disease affecting the somatosensory system. Its pathogenesis involves a wide range of molecular pathways. NP treatment is extremely challenging, due to its complex underlying disease mechanisms. Current pharmacological and nonpharmacological approaches can provide long-lasting pain relief to a limited percentage of patients and lack safe and effective treatment options. Therefore, scientists are focusing on the introduction of novel treatment approaches, such as stem cell therapy. A growing number of reports have highlighted the potential of stem cells for treating NP. In this review, we briefly introduce NP, current pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments, and preclinical studies of stem cells to treat NP. In addition, we summarize stem cell mechanisms—including neuromodulation in treating NP. Literature searches were conducted using PubMed to provide an overview of the neuroprotective effects of stem cells with particular emphasis on recent translational research regarding stem cell-based treatment of NP, highlighting its potential as a novel therapeutic approach.

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“…This section does not include recent, more experimental approaches of neuropathic pain therapy. Hence, we would like to refer the reader to other reviews, for example, discussing stem cell technologies (Liu et al., 2020), electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves (Nayak & Banik, 2018), the spinal cord (Dones & Levi, 2018), or selected areas of the brain (Farrell et al., 2018) and the application of immunoglobulin (Chang & Park, 2020).…”

Section: Therapeutic Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuropathic pain: Spotlighting anatomy, experimental models, mechanisms, and therapeutic aspects

Kankowski

Grothe

Haastert‐Talini

2021

Eur J of Neuroscience

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Pain serves to protect us from physical damage. But unlike physiologic pain, neuropathic pain does not originate from adequate stimulation of distal nerve endings. In neuropathic pain, the protective nature of pain gets lost. An initial event triggers activity driven changes in the periphery that lead to painful sensations. While the acute stimulus decays, persisting alterations in the peripheral nervous system continuously alert the whole body. As a consequence, the patient experiences

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Stem Cells in the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain: Research Progress of Mechanism

Cited by 23 publications

References 101 publications

Long-Term Effects of Neural Precursor Cell Transplantation on Secondary Injury Processes and Functional Recovery after Severe Cervical Contusion-Compression Spinal Cord Injury

Long-Term Effects of Neural Precursor Cell Transplantation on Secondary Injury Processes and Functional Recovery after Severe Cervical Contusion-Compression Spinal Cord Injury

Stem Cell Therapy for Modulating Neuroinflammation in Neuropathic Pain

Neuropathic pain: Spotlighting anatomy, experimental models, mechanisms, and therapeutic aspects

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