Stem cell therapy for critical limb ischaemia - a review

Critical limb ischaemia is an intractable condition associated with high levels of amputation, leading to a low quality of life and increased morbidity and mortality. It is often not treatable by standard therapeutic modalities. Neoangiogenesis has been proposed as a novel method of treatment of such patients. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and cytokine fibroblast growth factor (FGF-1) have been shown to elicit neoangiogenesis. Stem cells are progenitor cells which can differentiate in vivo into different types of cells. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a type of adult stem cells which have an immunomodulatory effect. Stem cell therapy has been used in animal studies to improve limb vascularity in rat and rabbit models. Several clinical studies have also validated their use for critical limb ischaemia. However many issues are still unresolved. These include the dosage, delivery and safety issues in relation to stem cell therapy. However stem cells are likely to be an important therapeutic modality to treat critical limb ischaemia in the near future.