Stem cells therapy research for the treatment of parasitic infections

Abstract

Parasitic diseases have significant global economic, environmental, and public health impacts. In recent years, stem cells therapy has become a very promising and advanced scientific research topic. Since stem cells are the primary, unspecialized mother of all cells, they have the ability to differentiate into specialized cells. Besides, they have a remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body to replace the damaged tissues. Recently, researchers experimentally investigated the application of these cells to treat parasitic diseases such as schistosomiasis, malaria, trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis and toxoplasmosis with improvement of the function of the involved tissue and organs. This review summarized the up-to-date application of stem cell technology for treatment and/or protection against parasitic diseases. We aimed to highlight how these approaches affected the parasite-host interactions and contribute to the identification of novel targets for therapies and vaccines.