Trends of Stem Cell-Based Clinical Trials in Gastrointestinal Tract Diseases

• Zahra Jabbarpour

  Gene Therapy Research Center, Digestive Disease Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

• Mohammad H. Ghahremani

  Department of Pharmacology-Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

• Massoud Saidijam

  Research Center for Molecular Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran

• Jafar Kiani

  Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

• Naser Ahmadbeigi

  Gene Therapy Research Center, Digestive Disease Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Stem cells have great potential to be applied as a treatment for various types of disorders. These cells exert therapeutic effects by modulating the immune system with the capability to secrete cytokines and chemokines. Previous studies have indicated that stem cells could be used as a therapeutic agent for different complaints, such as gastrointestinal diseases. For a long time now, researchers have moved toward stem cells' clinical application in this context. With the increasing number of trials in stem cell therapy of gastrointestinal disease, it is now time to evaluate these clinical trials' status. This paper reviews clinical trials that have used stem cells for the treatment of gastrointestinal tract diseases.

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