Safety of intrathecal injection of Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis therapy

Animal experiments have confirmed that mesenchymal stem cells can inhibit motor neuron apoptosis and inflammatory factor expression and increase neurotrophic factor expression. Therefore, mesenchymal stem cells have been shown to exhibit prospects in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. However, the safety of their clinical application needs to be validated. To investigate the safety of intrathecal injection of Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis therapy, 43 patients (16 females and 27 males, mean age of 57.3 years) received an average dose of 0.42 x 10(6) cells/kg through intrathecal administration at the cervical, thoracic or lumbar region depending on the clinical symptoms. There was a 2 month interval between two injections. The adverse events occurring during a 6-month treatment period were evaluated. No adverse events occurred. Headache occurred in one case only after first injection of stem cells. This suggests that intrathecal injection of Wharton's Jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells is well tolerated in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This study was approved by the Bioethical Committee of School of Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland (approval No. 36/2014 and approval No. 8/2016).