Stem cell therapy shows promise but lacks consistency
Stem cell therapies are offered globally, including in clinics with little regulatory oversight. They can temporarily reduce chronic inflammation. But reliable, reproducible results remain elusive.
Stem cells are unspecialised cells that can develop into multiple tissue types. In regenerative medicine, the goal is to repair or replace damaged and aging tissue using infusions or injections of such cells. The researchers outline the current state of the field in a review published in Biomedicines: stem cell therapy can reduce the chronic low-grade inflammation associated with aging in some patients, but effects typically last only a few months and vary considerably from person to person.
A structural challenge is that cells are sensitive to small differences in how they are cultured. Slight variations in conditions change how cells behave. Furthermore, cells that are cultured for too long can develop features of senescence, a state in which cells stop dividing and begin emitting signals that damage surrounding tissue. In a therapy intended to rejuvenate, such aged cells are counterproductive.
A wide gap between clinics and countries
The review distinguishes between two worlds. In regulated medical systems, such as those in Europe and the United States, only a limited number of stem cell therapies have received formal approval. Outside those systems, the medical tourism industry offers a wide array of treatments with little quality control or protocol standardisation. Results are therefore difficult to compare and often unreliable.
The authors cover a broad range of conditions under investigation, from neurological and cardiovascular disease to eye disorders, joint problems, and cancer. For most applications, clinical study results remain inconsistent and reproducibility falls short.
What progress requires
Standardisation of cell culture protocols is a first requirement, according to the authors. Better tracking of how senescent cells have become before administration is also needed. Until such standards exist, the gap between the promise of stem cell therapy and clinical reality will remain large. For anyone considering a treatment, asking critical questions about the scientific evidence is more than advisable.
Want to research this yourself? Try these search terms in Google Scholar or PubMed:
- stem cell therapy senescence clinical variability
- regenerative medicine tissue repair reproducibility
- mesenchymal stem cells chronic inflammation aging