%0 Journal Article
%T Therapeutic Potential of Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Transplantation for Cerebral Palsy: A Case Report
%A Liming Wang
%A Haijie Ji
%A Jianjun Zhou
%A Jiang Xie
%A Zhanqiang Zhong
%A Ming Li
%A Wen Bai
%A Na Li
%A Zijia Zhang
%A Xuejun Wang
%A Delin Zhu
%A Yongjun Liu
%A Mingyuan Wu
%J Case Reports in Transplantation
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/146347
%X Cerebral palsy is the most common motor disability in childhood. In current paper, we first report our clinical data regarding administration of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation in treatment of cerebral palsy. A 5-year-old girl with cerebral palsy was treated with multiple times of intravenous and intrathecal administration of MSCs derived from her young sister and was followed up for 28 months. The gross motor dysfunction was improved. Other benefits included enhanced immunity, increased physical strength, and adjusted speech and comprehension. Temporary low-grade fever was the only side effect during the treatment. MSCs may be a safe and effective therapy to improve symptoms in children with cerebral palsy. 1. Introduction Cerebral palsy is a group of severe disorders in the development of movement and posture occurred in developing fetal or infant brain, often accompanied with disturbances of sensation, cognition, communication, perception, and/or behavior and/or by a seizure [1]. The causes of cerebral palsy are heterogeneous with no single etiology predominating, and the main etiological factors are periventricular leukomalacia, intrapartum asphyxia, cerebral dysgenesis, and intracranial hemorrhage [2]. The prevalence in children aged 3¨C10 years is 2¨C4 per 1000 [3]. The essential feature of children with cerebral palsy is an early-onset neuromotor impairment resulting from a nonprogressive pathology in immature brain [4]. Roughly half of children with cerebral palsy also have symptoms of nonneuromotor impairments, such as cognitive disabilities, epilepsy, speech and language difficulties, primary sensory impairment, and behavioral challenges [5]. Conventional therapies for cerebral palsy include physical and occupational therapy, oral medications, and orthopedic surgery for supportive and rehabilitative approaches [6]. Stem cell therapy is considered as a novel approach in the treatment of cerebral palsy via replacing injured or dead neuronal cells and has proven effective in restoring injured organs and tissues in animal models [7]. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were first identified in 1976 in the stromal compartment of bone marrow [8] and are currently referred to also as mesenchymal stromal cells [9]. Previously, a few case reports showed the positive clinical benefits of mesenchymal stromal cells in the treatment of neurological diseases including spinal cord injury and basilar artery dissection [10¨C12]. Recently, a case report that intrathecal infusion of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cells in a cerebral palsy
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/crit/2013/146347/