Therapeutic Potency of Cord Blood Stem Cells in Patients with Cerebral Palsy: A Systemic Literature Review

Background: The main objective of this study was to systematically review the reported potency of cord blood stem cells in treating patients with neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy.  Methods: PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane were searched thoroughly on September 2016 using the following search terms: “Umbilical cord blood stem cells” AND “development” AND “cerebral palsy” to find articles in which the umbilical cord blood stem cells were used to treat patients with cerebral palsy. Only English-language studies conducted on patients with cerebral palsy were included and used for data extraction.  Results: Of a total of 77 articles found in the database search, only 6 papers fully met the inclusion criteria. The results showed successful treatment with cord blood stem cells in 165 patients with cerebral palsy. Conclusion: Studies on both human and animal models have shown the beneficial effects of stem cell therapy in the treatment of various neurological diseases. Data presented that cord blood stem cells can be considered as a main therapeutic strategy to treat patients with cerebral palsy. In addition, it is shown that cord blood stem cells significantly improve motor function, cognition, and memory in patients with cerebral palsy.