The Current State of Clinical Cell Transplantation Trials in Iran: A Survey in 2011

Context: Recently, stem cell research has gained great public interest and different cell-based clinical trials have started in Iran. The objective of this study was to provide an overview of clinical cell transplantation researches in Iran, which has assumed a leadership role in the Middle East. Evidence Acquisitions: To evaluate the state of clinical cell transplantation researches in Iran, we conducted a literature review on December 1, 2011 using PubMed, IranMedex, US NIH registry for clinical trials and Iranian registry of clinical trials (IRCT).We used “Cell”, “Cells”, “Cell Transplantation”, and "Iran” as keywords to identify stem cell related research articles or projects. Publications were then examined manually to exclude those that did not use stem cells in a clinical setting or did not report original research. Hard copy of all related articles were used to extract the following data: the year of publication, journal’s name, number of authors, cell type, processing method, subject, and study design. Results: Twenty one articles and 33 registered trials were related to clinical application of cellular products. Except for 6 articles, the others were multicenteral. The main subject of articles was cardiovascular diseases (23.52%) and for registered clinical trials this was osteoarticular disorders (24.24%). Bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSC) and mononuclear cells (BM-MNC) were the most frequent cell types in these trials. From 12 completed trials only 4 have been reported in medical journals. Conclusions: By comparison with basic stem cell research, the current status of cell transplantation trials in Iran is not optimal. Joined multicenteral research, establishment of national regulations, sharing of facility and staff, international collaborations and bridging the gap between basic and clinical research may improve quality and quantity of clinical cell transplantation research in Iran.