Systematic Review of Experimental Ischemic Stroke Treatment with Neural Stem Cells in Preclinical Studies

Abstract

Background and Objective: Transplantation of temporary cells is effective in ischemic stroke treatment. In this research, a systematic review and meta-analysis was used to study the biological effect of stem cell treatments in animal models of ischemic stroke.
Material & Method: A search was made in the databases. 83 articles that were related to our study in terms of content and topic and met the inclusion criteria were selected. These studies were selected from articles published between 2000 and 2022. In the initial search, 10538 records were obtained. At this stage, 4088 records were removed due to duplication and all articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria or were inappropriate due to indirect connection with the subject (858 records). Then 773 articles were retrieved for full text review. A thorough review resulted in the final selection of 27 studies.
Result: The results showed that the performance (sensory-motor, neurological or behavioral) improved in 83.13%, infarct volume decreased in 39.75%, increased angiogenesis and vessel density in 18%, decreased number of microglial cells in 14.45%. And there was a decrease in the amount of apoptosis in 8.43% of the studies.
Conclusion: Stem cell therapy can improve neural function defects and infarct volume and exert a potential neuroprotective effect for experimental ischemic stroke.