Stroke, a global disease with a high disability rate, has limited options for functional rehabilitation and results in an adverse impact on patients’ lives. In recent years, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have become a new focus of treatment owing to their potential for neuroregeneration. MSCs have demonstrated therapeutic efficacy capable of cell migration, angiogenesis, immunomodulation, neuroprotection and neural circuit reconstruction. The paracrine action of MSCs can also exert neurotrophic effects and improve the functional recovery. This review shows the transplantation protocol for MSCs, discusses the potential therapeutic mechanisms, and summarizes clinical trials on MSCs for treating ischemic stroke. The current proofs show that MSC therapy for ischemic stroke is safe and feasible. The timing and optimal dose of MSC administration are the main challenges in its clinical use. Although still under research, MSC therapy has the potential to be a new therapeutic approach for neurological recovery from ischemic stroke in the future.

中风是一种高致残率的全球疾病，功能康复的选择有限，并对患者的生活产生不利影响。近年来，间充质干细胞 (MSCs) 因其具有神经再生的潜力而成为治疗的新焦点。MSC 已证明具有细胞迁移、血管生成、免疫调节、神经保护和神经回路重建的治疗功效。间充质干细胞的旁分泌作用还可以发挥神经营养作用，促进功能恢复。本综述展示了 MSCs 的移植方案，讨论了潜在的治疗机制，并总结了 MSCs 治疗缺血性中风的临床试验。目前的证据表明，MSC治疗缺血性脑卒中是安全可行的。MSC 给药的时机和最佳剂量是其临床应用的主要挑战。尽管仍在研究中，但 MSC 疗法有可能成为未来缺血性中风神经系统恢复的新治疗方法。