Advances in Stem Cell Therapy for Huntington’s Disease: A Comprehensive Literature Review

Huntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease characterized by uncontrolled movements, emotional disturbances, and progressive cognitive impairment. It is estimated to affect 4.3 to 10.6 per 100,000 people worldwide, and the mean prevalence rate among all published studies, rev...

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Main Authors: Siddharth Shah, Hadeel M. Mansour, Brandon Lucke-Wold
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Cells
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/14/1/42
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author Siddharth Shah
Hadeel M. Mansour
Brandon Lucke-Wold
author_facet Siddharth Shah
Hadeel M. Mansour
Brandon Lucke-Wold
author_sort Siddharth Shah
collection DOAJ
description Huntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease characterized by uncontrolled movements, emotional disturbances, and progressive cognitive impairment. It is estimated to affect 4.3 to 10.6 per 100,000 people worldwide, and the mean prevalence rate among all published studies, reviews, and genetic HD registries is 5.7 per 100,000. A key feature of HD is the loss of striatal neurons and cortical atrophy. Although there is no cure at present, the discovery of the gene causing HD has brought us into a new DNA era and therapeutic advances for several neurological disorders. PubMed was systematically searched using three search strings: ‘“Huntington disease” + “stem cell”’, ‘”Huntington disease” + Mesenchymal stromal cell’, and ‘”Huntington disease” + “induced pluripotent stem cell”’. For each string, the search results were categorized based on cell type, and papers that included a clinical analysis were categorized as well. The data were extracted up to 2024. We did not include other databases in our search to have a comparable and systematic review of the literature on the topic. The collected data were analyzed and used for critical interpretation in the present review. Data are presented chronologically as clinical studies were published. Therapeutic strategies based on stem cells have drawn a lot of interest as possible HD therapies. Recent research indicates that NSCs have been the most often utilized stem cell type for treating HD. NSCs have been generated and extracted from a variety of sources, including HD patients’ somatic cells and the brain itself. There is strong evidence supporting the transplantation of stem cells or their derivatives in HD animal models, even if stem-cell-based preclinical and clinical trials are still in their early stages. Current treatment only aims at relieving the symptoms rather than treating the pathogenesis of the disease. Although preclinical trials in HD models have shown promise in improving cognitive and motor functions, stem cell therapy still faces many challenges and disadvantages including immunosuppression and immunorejection as well as ethical, technical, and safety concerns. Further research is required for a definitive conclusion.
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spelling doaj-art-53d768e07c0548d89b5dd42e57f2c2612025-01-10T13:16:20ZengMDPI AGCells2073-44092025-01-011414210.3390/cells14010042Advances in Stem Cell Therapy for Huntington’s Disease: A Comprehensive Literature ReviewSiddharth Shah0Hadeel M. Mansour1Brandon Lucke-Wold2Department of Neurosurgery, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USADepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USADepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USAHuntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease characterized by uncontrolled movements, emotional disturbances, and progressive cognitive impairment. It is estimated to affect 4.3 to 10.6 per 100,000 people worldwide, and the mean prevalence rate among all published studies, reviews, and genetic HD registries is 5.7 per 100,000. A key feature of HD is the loss of striatal neurons and cortical atrophy. Although there is no cure at present, the discovery of the gene causing HD has brought us into a new DNA era and therapeutic advances for several neurological disorders. PubMed was systematically searched using three search strings: ‘“Huntington disease” + “stem cell”’, ‘”Huntington disease” + Mesenchymal stromal cell’, and ‘”Huntington disease” + “induced pluripotent stem cell”’. For each string, the search results were categorized based on cell type, and papers that included a clinical analysis were categorized as well. The data were extracted up to 2024. We did not include other databases in our search to have a comparable and systematic review of the literature on the topic. The collected data were analyzed and used for critical interpretation in the present review. Data are presented chronologically as clinical studies were published. Therapeutic strategies based on stem cells have drawn a lot of interest as possible HD therapies. Recent research indicates that NSCs have been the most often utilized stem cell type for treating HD. NSCs have been generated and extracted from a variety of sources, including HD patients’ somatic cells and the brain itself. There is strong evidence supporting the transplantation of stem cells or their derivatives in HD animal models, even if stem-cell-based preclinical and clinical trials are still in their early stages. Current treatment only aims at relieving the symptoms rather than treating the pathogenesis of the disease. Although preclinical trials in HD models have shown promise in improving cognitive and motor functions, stem cell therapy still faces many challenges and disadvantages including immunosuppression and immunorejection as well as ethical, technical, and safety concerns. Further research is required for a definitive conclusion.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/14/1/42stem cellsHuntingtonneurosurgeryneurologyneurodegeneration
spellingShingle Siddharth Shah
Hadeel M. Mansour
Brandon Lucke-Wold
Advances in Stem Cell Therapy for Huntington’s Disease: A Comprehensive Literature Review
Cells
stem cells
Huntington
neurosurgery
neurology
neurodegeneration
title Advances in Stem Cell Therapy for Huntington’s Disease: A Comprehensive Literature Review
title_full Advances in Stem Cell Therapy for Huntington’s Disease: A Comprehensive Literature Review
title_fullStr Advances in Stem Cell Therapy for Huntington’s Disease: A Comprehensive Literature Review
title_full_unstemmed Advances in Stem Cell Therapy for Huntington’s Disease: A Comprehensive Literature Review
title_short Advances in Stem Cell Therapy for Huntington’s Disease: A Comprehensive Literature Review
title_sort advances in stem cell therapy for huntington s disease a comprehensive literature review
topic stem cells
Huntington
neurosurgery
neurology
neurodegeneration
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/14/1/42
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