Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease responsible for 60-70% of the 50 million cases of dementia worldwide. It is characterized by neuronal cell death, shrinkage of brain tissue, and progressive cognitive, motor, and behavioral impairment, which often leads to death. Although current treatment has helped improve the patient’s quality of life, it has not been able to alter the underlying disease pathology of AD. Studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)—a group of multipotent stem cells—have the ability to stimulate neuroregeneration and inhibit disease progression. More recently, extracellular vesicles (EVs) from cytokine-preconditioned MSCs have also shown to induce immunomodulatory and neuroprotective effects in AD models. This review will aim to compile pertinent preclinical AD research on transgenic mice as well as clinical trials on MSC-based therapy from diverse sources.