The cognitive decline of our elderly population is one of the most serious contemporary global health challenges. Deterioration of cognitive ability is particularly troublesome as it results in loss of self-sufficiency and the ability to perform basic day-to-day tasks. Progressive Dementia impacts both the individual suffering from the decrease in cognitive ability and the family caregivers. Currently available therapeutic strategies only provide temporary relief from the clinical symptoms of Dementia. It is critically important that new disease-modifying therapies are developed. Stem Cells have the potential to heal and repair damaged tissues. One of the advancements in modern clinical therapies is the use of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal Stem Cells (UC-MSCs) to mediate the cellular damage associated with the progression of Dementia. Dementia is one of the most devastating diseases as it causes the individual and the family the greatest emotional and psychological distress and deprivation caused by the loss of neural networks. Clinical research for the treatment of Dementia should focus on innovative therapeutic strategies to relieve the distress and suffering caused by the disease instead of palliative care.
Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration
Neurodegeneration in Dementia is one of the most complex patho-cascades in contemporary medicine. It involves the formation of amyloid β plaques and neurofibrillary tangles that become neuro-related and proinflammatory. Neuronal and non-neuronal cell interactions become dysregulated resulting in necro-inflammation and activate neuro-cellular death. Neurotrophins and mitochondria become dysregulated and insufficiently available to accomplish cellular homeostasis, necessitating UC-MSCs stem cell therapy. The blood-brain barrier fails and harmful peripheral immune cells reach cerebral tissues in Dementia. In this situation, the damage is multifactorial, and complex UC-MSCs stem cell approaches are needed to tackle the multiple degenerative pathways.
Conventional Pharmacological Approaches
The current standard of care for Dementia includes prescribing cholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA receptor antagonists. These agents only serve to briefly address the paucity of neurotransmitters. Some patients may even experience slight improvement of cognition, but only in the early disease stage. As mentioned, these drugs do not restore damaged neurons nor do they slow the progression of the disease. Common side effects include serious GI and CV adverse effects. Once the brain becomes tolerant, the effects of the drugs diminish. Ultimately, these drugs have no capacity to restore the impaired neurogenesis nor do they remove the toxic protein aggregates. These drugs are only temporary measures, after which the patient inevitably deteriorates to total cognitive loss. It is critically important to radically alter the treatment approaches to be regenerative in nature, utilizing UC-MSCs stem cell therapy.
Regenerative Mechanisms in Cellular Therapy
Unlike other treatment modalities for Dementia, regenerative medicine allows the restoration of tissues damaged via the direct application of cells. Of the various stem cell types that may be used to treat a chronic, neuroinflammatory state, umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal Stem Cells (UC-MSCs) have substantial immunomodulatory properties and a significant therapeutic potential especially when used in the damaged neuroinflammatory microenvironment. The application of this therapy is justified as it has the potential to aid in the restoration of neuronal loss and promote the repair of the injured microenvironment.
Utilizing such UC-MSCs stem cell therapies also enables the speedy clearance of toxic amyloid proteins through enhancement of microglial phagocytosis, without the harmful secondary inflammatory responses. They stimulate the formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) within the brain and supply oxygenated blood to previously neglected severely hypoxic brain regions. The exosomes released from these therapeutic agents carry microRNAs, which have the ability to downregulate apoptosis in neuroprotective cells. This system-based biological approach directly targets the primary pathogenic processes of Dementia, unlike the vast majority of stand-alone antagonistic pharmaceuticals. The agents deployed initiate the repair of all of the damaged tissues within the central nervous system (CNS). They preferentially control the negative local inflammatory response and promote peripheral nervous system (PNS) neurons to create new synaptic connections. The primary therapeutic mechanism of these agents is multiple and directly targets complex therapeutic problems associated with chronic neurodegenerative diseases.
Future Clinical Trajectories
Southeast Asia is becoming the leading center for advanced biotechnology research on a global scale. Specifically, the implementation of clinical studies for the treatment of Dementia in Thailand has clear scientific strategic advantages. Thailand has world-class research and medical facilities, as well as well-trained regenerative medicine research personnel. The country has research and advanced technologies in biotechnology and regenerative medicine, along with an aging population as an emerging market for therapeutic solutions for neurodegenerative diseases. Thailand has a tropical climate with unique biodiversity, which is a great resource for developing new research in biotechnology and tissue culture. The future of biotechnology research in Thailand is enhancing the integration of advanced scaffolds with UC-MSCs stem cell technology to improve cellular therapy substantially. This particular geographic location will lead regional scientific developments that translate complex UC-MSCs stem cell laboratory discoveries into usable clinical applications for Dementia worldwide.
Comprehensive Summary
Addressing severe neurodegenerative pathology requires going beyond addressing temporary symptomatic relief. Advanced regenerative interventions are the leading edge of modern clinical science. The application of a targeted UC-MSCs stem cell protocol provides a healing system that contains diverse immunomodulatory and neurotrophic aspects. The advanced clinical application of various cellular techniques provides a comprehensive biological approach to counter the many destructive effects of Dementia. As therapeutic techniques progress in various global specialized research centers, the total restoration of cognitive functions which have been lost is coming within reach. Modern medical science has the ability to reverse the effects of the destructive and progressive loss of functions of complex neural systems.