Neurological Disorders are at the top of the list of global health concerns affecting the lives of millions. Disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) lead to the gradual deterioration of cognitive abilities and profound loss of motor functioning. Patients suffer the loss of the ability to care for themselves. These disorders also are a tremendous burden to the family. As the current treatments are inadequate to reverse the effects of these disorders, there is a compelling need for new treatments. Among the various cell-based therapies, one of the most promising is UC-MSCs. These therapies also have the potential for CNS path injury repair. Within the context of the current state of regenerative medicine in Thailand, the search for new, more effective palliative therapies, is urgent and inspiring.
The Pathophysiological Basis of Neurodegeneration
To fully understand Neurological Disorders, one must look at the cellular level. The pathogenesis of many disorders begins with chronic neuroinflammation and the formation of pathological aggregates of proteins. The overstimulation of microglia leads to inflammation and severe injury to the nervous system. In parallel to the injury caused by the inflammation, there is damage to the cellular energetics system, and neurons die. Injury to the blood brain barrier creates an avenue through which immune cells of the periphery gain access to the nervous system and create even more injury. There is also a depletion of growth factors and signals that are required for neuronal and synaptic integrity. Ultimately, widespread cell death in defined areas of the nervous system necessitates interventions like UC-MSCs within regenerative medicine in Thailand. Preventing Neurological Disorders requires modulating immune responses and promoting cell survival using UC-MSCs, a focus of regenerative medicine in Thailand. This illustrates the complexity of these pathologies and is one of the reasons that mono-targeted pharmacological agents typically fail in the clinic. There is an increasing understanding in the field that misfolded proteins such as alpha-synuclein and amyloid-β disseminate in the nervous system in a manner similar to prion proteins. In advanced cases, this disrupts cellular autophagy and leads to the ultimate collapse of a cell’s metabolic function.
The Dearth of Efficacious Pharmacological Treatments
Currently, the majority of pharmacological treatments for Neurological Disorders involve interventions in the nervous system that provide symptom relief. This typically involves the replacement of neurotransmitters or the relief of motor control symptoms. Unfortunately, tolerance develops and the drugs become ineffective. In many cases, the only modification of therapy involves the addition of other drugs to manage the numerous and diverse side effects. In many cases, the side effects are as severe as the primary condition that warranted treatment. This is primarily due to the difficulty of most pharmacological agents penetrating the blood brain barrier. Minimally evasive procedures also fail to manage the effects of neurodegeneration. Most of these therapies fail to manage the primary effects. It is imperative that new therapies utilizing UC-MSCs within regenerative medicine in Thailand are developed to manage these symptoms.
The Advantages of Cellular Therapies
The most disruptive change to the current treatments of Neurological Disorders that will manage the symptoms, is therapy with UC-MSCs. Because of their advanced restorative properties utilized in regenerative medicine in Thailand, UC-MSCs actually treat the symptoms and causes of neurodegeneration, unlike the majority of other therapies. The UC-MSCs function as dynamic pharmacies for Neurological Disorders that release a mixture of exosomes, neurotrophins, and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Their secretome works against neuroinflammation by changing macrophages from an inflammatory to a repairing phenotype. In addition, UC-MSCs produce brain-derived neurotrophic factor to promote synaptogenesis and angiogenesis in the region. Because of their immunological immaturity, the MSCs do not get rejected by the body, making the allogeneic transplantation safe. In contrast to other treatments, the MSCs generate a microenvironment that promotes repairing the damage to the neurons. This approach of repairing damage to the neurons is drastically different to conventional treatments. The MSCs also have the ability to migrate to the injury site and elicit the regenerative process. The MSCs naturally improve the state of the injury and stop the process of degeneration. These mechanisms are by far the most advanced in the field of regenerative medicine in Thailand.
Figure 1: The Dearth of Efficacious Pharmacological Treatments and The Advantages of Cellular Therapies
The most advanced therapies using UC-MSCs to treat Neurological Disorders show great potential. There is an unprecedented effort to develop the appropriate infrastructure to support these complex clinical trials. The rapid emergence of regenerative medicine in Thailand is an important regional development. They have great research capacity in the biological sciences and advanced laboratories. There are government biotechnology initiatives that create an optimal regulatory environment for biomedicine. There are great clinical facilities and an international patient base. The local research centers operate in a safe and effective manner for cellular therapies. As knowledge of UC-MSCs increases, researchers of Neurological Disorders within regenerative medicine in Thailand will likely develop more precise targeted delivery systems. The refinement of these methods establishes this region as a leading center for innovations in the field of neural repair. Ultimately, this concentration of research will significantly enhance therapeutic options for previously untreatable conditions.