School of Biomedical, Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Sep 21;22(18):10151. doi: 10.3390/ijms221810151.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive debilitating neurodegenerative disease and the most common form of dementia in the older population. At present, there is no definitive effective treatment for AD. Therefore, researchers are now looking at stem cell therapy as a possible treatment for AD, but whether stem cells are safe and effective in humans is still not clear. In this narrative review, we discuss both preclinical studies and clinical trials on the therapeutic potential of human stem cells in AD. Preclinical studies have successfully differentiated stem cells into neurons in vitro, indicating the potential viability of stem cell therapy in neurodegenerative diseases. Preclinical studies have also shown that stem cell therapy is safe and effective in improving cognitive performance in animal models, as demonstrated in the Morris water maze test and novel object recognition test. Although few clinical trials have been completed and many trials are still in phase I and II, the initial results confirm the outcomes of the preclinical studies. However, limitations like rejection, tumorigenicity, and ethical issues are still barriers to the advancement of stem cell therapy. In conclusion, the use of stem cells in the treatment of AD shows promise in terms of effectiveness and safety.
阿尔茨海默病(AD)是一种进行性衰弱的神经退行性疾病,也是老年人中最常见的痴呆症形式。目前,AD 还没有明确有效的治疗方法。因此,研究人员现在正在研究干细胞疗法作为 AD 的一种可能治疗方法,但干细胞在人类中是否安全有效仍不清楚。在这篇叙述性综述中,我们讨论了人类干细胞在 AD 治疗潜力方面的临床前研究和临床试验。临床前研究已经成功地将干细胞在体外分化为神经元,这表明干细胞疗法在神经退行性疾病中的潜在可行性。临床前研究还表明,干细胞疗法在改善动物模型的认知表现方面是安全有效的,这在 Morris 水迷宫测试和新物体识别测试中得到了证实。虽然已经完成了少数临床试验,而且许多试验仍处于 I 期和 II 期,但最初的结果证实了临床前研究的结果。然而,排斥、致瘤性和伦理问题等限制仍然是干细胞疗法发展的障碍。总之,干细胞在 AD 治疗中的应用在有效性和安全性方面显示出了前景。