title: Concise review: stem cell therapies for neuropathic pain.
abstract: Neuropathic pain is a chronic condition that is heterogeneous in nature and has different causes. Different from and more burdensome than nociceptive pain, neuropathic pain more severely affects people's quality of life. Understanding the various mechanisms of the onset and progression of neuropathic pain is important in the development of an effective treatment. Research is being done to replace current pharmacological treatments with cellular therapies that will have longer lasting effects. Stem cells present an exciting potential therapy for neuropathic pain. In this review, we describe the neuroprotective effects of stem cells along with special emphasis on the current translational research using stem cells to treat neuropathic pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Veronica R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Fortino
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pelaez
authors.forename: Herman S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Cheung
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000145:classification / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology
keywords: Adult stem cells; Cellular therapy; Neuropathy; Stem cell-microenvironment interactions