Acute Stroke Programme, Department of Medicine and Clinical Geratology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford, UK.
CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2013 Mar;12(2):209-19. doi: 10.2174/1871527311312020007.
No pharmacological intervention has been shown convincingly to improve neurological outcome in stroke patients after the brain tissue is infarcted. While conventional therapeutic strategies focus on preventing brain damage, stem cell treatment has the potential to repair the injured brain tissue. Stem cells not only produce a source of trophic molecules to minimize brain damage caused by ischaemia/reperfusion and promote recovery, but also potentially turn to new cells to replace those lost in ischaemic core. Although preclinical studies have shown promise, stem cell therapy for stroke treatment in human is still at an early stage and it is difficult to draw conclusions from current clinical trials about the efficacy of the different treatments used in humans. This article reviews the potential of various types of stem cells, from embryonic to adult to induced pluripotent stem cells, in stroke therapy, highlights new evidence from the ongoing clinical trials and discusses some of the problems associated with translating stem cell technology to a clinical therapy for stroke.
目前尚无药物干预措施能够令人信服地改善脑梗死患者的神经功能预后。虽然传统的治疗策略侧重于预防脑损伤，但干细胞治疗有可能修复受损的脑组织。干细胞不仅可以产生营养分子的来源，以最大限度地减少缺血/再灌注引起的脑损伤并促进恢复，而且还可能转化为新的细胞来替代缺血核心区丢失的细胞。尽管临床前研究显示出了前景，但针对人类中风的干细胞治疗仍处于早期阶段，目前难以从临床试验中得出关于不同治疗方法在人类中疗效的结论。本文综述了各种类型的干细胞（从胚胎到成人到诱导多能干细胞）在中风治疗中的潜力，重点介绍了正在进行的临床试验中的新证据，并讨论了将干细胞技术转化为中风临床治疗所面临的一些问题。
