Neuropathic pain is defined as a lesion or disease of the somatosensory system, currently remaining a challenging condition to treat. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation is emerging as a promising strategy to alleviate the neuropathic pain conditions induced by peripheral nerve injury. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the efficacy and safety of MSCs transplantation in neuropathic pain induced by peripheral nerve injury in controlled animal studies, and thus to yield evidence-based decision making. Following the PRISMA guidelines, PubMed, Cochrane Central Library, Embase, and CINAHL were searched for preclinical controlled animal studies from the inception to April 16, 2020. Seventeen studies are included in this review. Substantial heterogeneity is observed regarding the animal's species, models of neuropathic pain, regimen of MSCs transplantation, and outcome of measures across the included studies. Both mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia could be significantly attenuated by transplanted MSCs. The MSCs-elicited analgesic effect is independent of the type of MSCs, time of administration, and route of delivery, and is efficiently enhanced by genetic transfection with fibroblast growth factor, proenkephalin, and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor. The migration of MSCs after intrathecal or intravenous injection has been shown to be directed toward the surface of dorsal spinal cord or dorsal root ganglions on the ipsilateral side of injury. No adverse effects have been reported. The accumulating evidence demonstrates the therapeutic effect of MSCs-based cell therapy on prevention and alleviation of the neuropathic pain induced by peripheral nerve injury in rat or mouse models. The robust preclinical studies are deserved to optimize the regimen of MSCs transplantation and to promote the translation of the MSCs-based therapy into clinical studies.

中文翻译：

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间充质干细胞移植治疗动物模型中外周神经损伤引起的神经性疼痛：系统评价。

神经病理性疼痛被定义为躯体感觉系统的病变或疾病，目前仍是一种具有挑战性的治疗状况。间充质干细胞 (MSCs) 移植正在成为缓解由周围神经损伤引起的神经性疼痛状况的有前途的策略。本系统评价的目的是在对照动物研究中评估 MSCs 移植治疗周围神经损伤引起的神经性疼痛的有效性和安全性，从而做出基于证据的决策。按照 PRISMA 指南，在 PubMed、Cochrane 中央图书馆、Embase 和 CINAHL 中搜索了从开始到 2020 年 4 月 16 日的临床前对照动物研究。本综述包括 17 项研究。在动物种类、神经性疼痛模型、MSCs 移植方案，以及纳入研究的措施结果。移植的 MSC 可以显着减轻机械性异常性疼痛和热痛觉过敏。MSCs 引起的镇痛作用与 MSCs 的类型、给药时间和递送途径无关，并且通过用成纤维细胞生长因子、脑啡肽原和神经胶质细胞系衍生的神经营养因子进行基因转染而有效增强。已表明鞘内或静脉内注射后 MSC 的迁移指向脊髓背表面或损伤同侧的背根神经节。没有不良反应的报道。越来越多的证据证明了基于 MSCs 的细胞疗法对预防和减轻大鼠或小鼠模型周围神经损伤引起的神经性疼痛的治疗效果。强有力的临床前研究值得优化 MSCs 移植方案，并促进基于 MSCs 的治疗转化为临床研究。