Stem Cell Therapy After Neurological Injuries

Axonal degeneration, inflammation, neuronal death, and cytoarchitectural distortion can result from neurological injuries in both the central and peripheral nervous systems, such as traumatic injuries, iatrogenic events, and neurodegenerative illnesses. Due to a lack of precursor cells, the adult mammalian nervous system’s regenerative ability is constrained. The ability of stem cells to self-renew and differentiate into multiple cell types holds new therapeutic potential for addressing such obstacles to improve neural regeneration. So far, the prospective benefits of stem cell-based therapy for regeneration in the nervous system have gained attention. Stem cells have been reported to treat ischemic brain injury, peripheral nerve injury (PNI), and pain. Stem cells can transform into new neurons and other supportive cells to improve nerve regeneration and restore functional recovery. Along with neurotrophic factors, effective rejuvenation also involves connections between the neurons and different extracellular matrix-supporting cells. To be considered as a clinically effective treatment alternative, the drawbacks of limited donor sources, uncontrollable cell maturation, low cell survival, and low engraftment rates must be addressed. This chapter provides a synopsis of studies on applying stem cells in neurological diseases in central and peripheral nervous systems, mainly stem cell therapy in global ischemic brain injury induced by cardiac arrest (CA) and cell-based treatment in PNI. This chapter describes the establishment of CA and PNI models, evaluates enhanced outcomes associated with using different types of stem cells and delivery methods, introduces the technologies applied to improve stem cell therapy further, and provides a future perspective for prospects with stem cell therapy in neurological diseases.