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Fracaro et al. Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation 2020;7:1-12 Neuroimmunology
DOI: 10.20517/2347-8659.2019.009 and Neuroinflammation

Review Open Access

Mesenchymal stromal cells as a choice for spinal
cord injury treatment

Letícia Fracaro , Bernardo Zoehler , Carmen Lúcia Kuniyoshi Rebelatto 1
1
2
1 Core for Cell Technology, School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Curitiba, 80215-200, Brazil.
2 Department of Genetics, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, 81531-980, Brazil.
Correspondence to: Dr. Letícia Fracaro, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Core for Cell Technology, School of Medicine,
Rua Imaculada Conceição, 1155, Curitiba, 80215-200, Brazil. E-mail: leticiafracaro@gmail.com
How to cite this article: Fracaro L, Zoehler B, Rebelatto CLK. Mesenchymal stromal cells as a choice for spinal cord injury
treatment. Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation 2020;7:1-12. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-8659.2019.009
Received: 25 Aug 2019 First Decision: 11 Oct 2019 Revised: 25 Dec 2019 Accepted: 2 Jan 2020 Published: 21 Mar 2020

Science Editor: Swapan Ray Copy Editor: Jing-Wen Zhang Production Editor: Tian Zhang

Abstract
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a serious clinical problem that affects approximately 17,500 new patients per year in the United
States. The main causes of SCI are vehicle collisions, falls, violence (mainly gunshot wounds), and sports/recreational
activities. The final severity of the damage results from primary and secondary mechanisms that begin at the time of
injury and last for months after trauma. To reduce the extent of damage, several treatments have been proposed. This
review summarizes results from several studies that have pointed to cell therapy as the main form of neuroregenerative
treatment. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are important candidates for tissue regeneration due to the release of
bioactive factors, as well as antiapoptotic effects, scar inhibitors, and angiogenic effects. Studies have shown that MSCs
act in various ways on injured tissue, such as immunomodulation of the inflamed environment, release of bioactive
factors, restoration of axon myelin, prevention of neuronal apoptosis, and neuroregeneration. Current research using
MSCs aims to prevent secondary injury, promote regeneration, and replace destroyed spinal cord tissue. This review
presents information about the damage from primary and secondary events after SCI, treatments usually used, and pre-
clinical and clinical results aiming at the cell therapy using MSCs as a tissue regeneration strategy.

Keywords: Tissue regeneration, immunomodulation, neuroregeneration

SPINAL CORD INJURY
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a very serious health problem, and available treatments are not capable of
[1]
spinal cord regeneration . SCI can lead to permanent neurological deficits, including motor and sensory
disabilities, with high rates of physical disability and mortality. It can lead to serious damage to the physical
[2,3]
and mental health of patients, which can cause serious socioeconomic issues . According to the National
© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
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