Chapter 13: Advanced Approaches in Stem Cell Therapy for Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury

Brain damage from stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability, but the existing therapeutic options are limited, and hundreds of thousands of people annually worldwide are left in a chronically debilitated state. Experimental studies of stem cell (SC) therapy of stroke and TBI produced promising results, revealed molecular mechanisms of SC therapeutic effects and led to the first clinical trials. In this chapter, the sources and types of SCs, the experimental data accumulated in preclinical studies and the results and perspectives of clinical trials of SC therapy of stroke and TBI will be reviewed.