The Outcomes of Schwann Cell Therapy on Axonal Regeneration and Remyelination: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Study

Introduction: Cell therapy is considered as one of the most promising therapeutic strategies in treating SCI. This study aimed to evaluate the extent and the effect of Schwann cell therapy on axonal regeneration and remyelination through a systematic and meta-analysis study.

Methods: By a systematic review and meta-analysis, the effect of Schwann cell in axonal regeneration and remyelination was investigated. In this research, all associated papers published from 1950 to the end of 2018 were evaluated through searching in the databanks of PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus and Web of Science. Searching in the papers was done through the following keywords: Spinal cord injury, Schwann cell, transplantation, axonal regeneration and remyelination.

Results: Transplantation of Schwann cells has been stated as potential treatments for spinal cord injury. In the present study 47 papers were analyzed, out of which 43 were related to animal samples and 4 involved human samples. Totally among the studies on animal samples, 23 articles comprising some complete and incomplete sensory and motor injury as well as contusion and compaction subjects reported a sensory recovery in most cases. Also, all three human articles reported both motor and sensory recovery.

Conclusion: Based on the results extracted from the studies on animal samples, in about 90% of cases applying Schwann cells the outcome of cell therapy was associated with considerable sensory recovery and most of them also reported motor recovery. However, none of the animal researches has been able to guarantee the success of cell therapy in human experiments and beside the cell transplantation the researchers should pay attention to other therapeutic approaches.