Utilizing pharmacotherapy and mesenchymal stem cell therapy to reduce inlfammation following traumatic brain injury

The pathologic process of chronic phase traumatic brain injury is associated with spreading inlfamma-tion, cell death, and neural dysfunction. It is thought that sequestration of inlfammatory mediators can facilitate recovery and promote an environment that fosters cellular regeneration. Studies have targeted post-traumatic brain injury inlfammation with the use of pharmacotherapy and cell therapy. These thera-peutic options are aimed at reducing the edematous and neurodegenerative inlfammation that have been associated with compromising the integrity of the blood-brain barrier. Although studies have yielded posi-tive results from anti-inlfammatory pharmacotherapy and cell therapy individually, emerging research has begun to target inlfammation using combination therapy. The joint use of anti-inlfammatory drugs along-side stem cell transplantation may provide better clinical outcomes for traumatic brain injury patients. Despite the promising results in this ifeld of research, it is important to note that most of the studies men-tioned in this review have completed their studies using animal models. Translation of this research into a clinical setting will require additional laboratory experiments and larger preclinical trials.