ABSTRACT
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the major cause of blindness in the elderly, which mainly affects the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and photoreceptors, and progressively leads to the loss of central vision.AMD can be divided into dry AMD and wet AMD.At present, the treatment of AMD mainly aims at choroidal neovascularization (CNV) associated with wet AMD.However, there is no effective treatment for dry AMD.The common treatment methods include photodynamic therapy (PDT) and intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Furthermore, there are also laser therapy, radiotherapy and surgical treatment.However, at this stage, the clinical treatment methods can not eradicate the causes, and some patients show poor response to treatments.So people began to explore new treatments.Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) therapy has the characteristics of self-renewal and multidirectional differentiation potential, lower immunogenicity, easier access to materials and less ethical constraints, showing a broad therapeutic prospect.At present, many studies on the treatment of AMD with MSCs have been carried out at home and abroad, with fruitful results.This article elaborated the classification and treatment status of AMD and their limitations and summarized the research results of MSCs in the treatment of AMD at home and abroad in recent years.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To review the advances in utilizing paracrine effect of stem cells in knee osteoarthritis (OA) treatment. Methods: The researches in applying stem cells derived conditioned medium, extracellular matrix, exosomes, and microvesicles in knee OA treatment and cartilage repair were reviewed and analyzed. Results: The satisfying outcomes of using different products of stem cells paracrine effect in knee OA condition as well as cartilage defect is revealed in studies in vitro and in vivo. The mechanism including suppressing the intraarticular inflammation, the apoptosis of chondrocytes, and the degradation of cartilage matrix, while enhancing the synthesis of cartilage matrix, the differentiation of in-situ stem cells into chondrocytes and the migration to the affected area. The effectiveness can be further improved supplemented with the tissue engineering methods or gene modification. Conclusion: Compared with the traditional stem cell therapy, applying the products from paracrine effect of stem cells in knee OA treatment is more economical and safer, presenting great potential in clinical practice.
ABSTRACT
Stem cells are defined by their capacity for self-renewal and multilineage differentiation, making them uniquely situated to treat a broad spectrum of human diseases. The transplantation of tissue-specific stem cells, such as stem cells isolated from epithelial and neural tissues, can treat mouse disease models and human patients in which epithelial and neural cells are damaged. An alternative to tissue-specific stem cell therapy takes advantage of embryonic stem cells, which are capable of differentiating into any tissue type. Furthermore, nuclear transfer, the transfer of a post-mitotic somatic cell nucleus into an enucleated oocyte, creates a limitless source of autologous cells that, when combined with gene therapy, can serve as a powerful therapeutic tool.