Stem Cell Transplantation Improves Aging-Related Diseases

• Main Authors: Susumu eIkehara, Ming eLi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-05-01
• Series: Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
• Subjects: Bone Marrow Transplantation; Alzheimer's disease; type 2 diabetes mellitus; oesteoporosis; aging-related diseases
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fcell.2014.00016/full

Aging is a complex process of damage accumulation, and has been viewed as experimentally and medically intractable. The number of patients with age-associated diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease, atherosclerosis, and cancer has increased recently. Aging-related diseases are related to a deficiency of the immune system, which results from an aged thymus and bone marrow cells. Intra bone marrow-bone marrow transplantation (IBM-BMT) is a useful method to treat intractable diseases. This review summarizes findings that IBM-BMT can improve and treat aging-related diseases, including T2DM, osteoporosis and AD, in animal models.