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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Apr 26, 2019; 11(4): 212-221
Published online Apr 26, 2019. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v11.i4.212
Issues and opportunities of stem cell therapy in autoimmune diseases
Györgyi Műzes, Ferenc Sipos
Györgyi Műzes, Ferenc Sipos, Immunology Team, 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Semmelweis University, Szentkirályi Street 46, Budapest 1088, Hungary
Author contributions: Műzes G and Sipos F contributed to the writing, editing, and revision of the manuscript and approved the final version of the article to be published.
Supported by the StartUp Program of Semmelweis University Faculty of Medicine, No. SE10332470.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ferenc Sipos, MD, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Gastroenterology and Medicine, Immunology Team, 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Semmelweis University, Szentkirályi street 46, Budapest 1088, Hungary. dr.siposf@gmail.com
Telephone: +36-1-2660926 Fax: +36-1-2660826
Received: January 4, 2019
Peer-review started: January 4, 2019
First decision: January 21, 2019
Revised: January 23, 2019
Accepted: March 12, 2019
Article in press: March 12, 2019
Published online: April 26, 2019
Processing time: 111 Days and 14.5 Hours
Abstract

The purpose of regenerative medicine is to restore or enhance the normal function of human cells, tissues, and organs. From a clinical point of view, the use of stem cells is more advantageous than differentiated cells because they can be collected more easily and in larger quantities, their proliferation capacity is more pronounced, they are more resistant in cell culture, their aging is delayed, they are able to form a number of cell lines, and they are able to promote vascularization of tissue carriers. The therapeutic use of stem cells for disease modification, immunomodulation, or regenerative purposes are undoubtedly encouraging, but most studies are still in their early stages, and the clinical results reported are not clear with regard to therapeutic efficacy and potential side effects. Uniform regulation of the clinical application of stem cells is also indispensable for this highly customizable, minimally invasive, individualized therapeutic method to become a successful and safe treatment alternative in many different autoimmune and autoinflammatory disorders.

Keywords: Stem cell therapy; Autoimmune; Autoinflammatory; Immunomodulation; Disease modification

Core tip: The therapeutic use of stem cells in autoimmune diseases for disease modification, immunomodulation, or regenerative purposes are undoubtedly encouraging. However, the clinical results reported are not clear about therapeutic efficacy and potential side effects. Uniform regulation of the clinical application of stem cells is indispensable.