Clinical neurorestorative progress in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Abstract

Clinical neurorestorative progress in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Lin Chen,1,2,5 Hongyun Huang,3 Haitao Xi,4,5 Gengsheng Mao3 1Medical Center, Tsinghua University, 2Tsinghua University Yuquan Hospital, 3General Hospital of Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, 4Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital of Capital Medical University, 5Beijing Hongtianji Neuroscience Academy, Beijing, People’s Republic of China Abstract: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive paralysis and motor neuron death. In addition to symptomatic managements such as ventilation and nutritional support, neurorestorative therapies have demonstrated anti-neurodegenerative potential and may improve quality of life for patients. Currently, clinical neurorestorative strategies include pharmacological management (granulocyte colony stimulating factor), neuromodulatory intervention (repetitive transcranial magnetic and cortical stimulation), cell transplantation (bone marrow stromal cells, olfactory ensheathing cells, granulocyte colony stimulating factor-mobilized peripheral blood stromal cells, hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, neural stem/progenitor cells, CD133+ cells and CD34+ cells), bioengineering and tissue engineering therapy, and combined neurorehabilitative treatment. In this review, we describe the latest progress in clinical neurorestorative management of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and discuss the underlying evidence base. Keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, neurorestorative treatment, cell transplantation, clinical trial