Treatment of epilepsy with mesenchymal stem cells: literature review

Abstract

In the past few years, results from experimental and clinical studies have shown that inflammation can be both a consequence and a cause of epilepsy. Distinctive features of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are their immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties, which indicate promise in the field of epilepsy treatment.The article presents a review on the preclinical and clinical use of MSCs in the treatment of epilepsy, and outlines the mechanism of MSCs therapeutic action of in this disease. The authors focused on the analysis of all available in the literature clinical cases of MSCs use in the treatment of epilepsy, as well as the effectiveness and undesirable effects of therapy. The use of MSCs indeed has a significant effect in reducing the number of seizures and has a positive effect on mental functions, however, at present, this method of therapy is not ready for widespread clinical use due to the short period of observation in clinical trials and increased risks of developing immunological and oncological complications in patients.

Keywords

• mesenchymal stem cells
• epilepsy
• pharmacoresistance
• clinical trials