Immunoregulatory effects of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in the inflammatory response after spinal cord injury: a review / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Spinal cord injury is a serious injury of the central nervous system that can result in partial or complete loss of sensory and motor function. The clinical treatments for spinal cord injury include laminotomy and decompression and high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone, etc. Both treatments fail to stimulate neuronal and axonal regeneration and are associated with serious complications. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HUC-MSCs) have advantages of high activity, low immunogenicity and strong immunomodulatory effects, etc, which can target immune cells and immune organs, improve the local microenvironment in the injured area and create favorable conditions for spinal cord injury repair. Nonetheless, the immunomodulatory effects of HUC-MSCs transplantation following spinal cord injury remains under-recognized. For this, the authors reviewed the advances of researches on the immunomodulatory effects of HUC-MSCs in the inflammatory response after spinal cord injury so as to provide a reference for the selection of therapeutic targets for spinal cord injury.