Management of inflammatory bowel disease using stem cell therapy.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are a collection of diseases associated with chronic inflammation in the intestinal mucosa and/or transmural involvement. IBD is divided into two main categories Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). While there is no cure for IBD, current therapies can only reduce the inflammatory process that causes the signs and symptoms of IBD and hopefully induce long-term remission. Improved treatment modalities for the complex IBD are still evolving. The increased understanding of the underlying immunopathology has helped identify new targeted treatment options in particular the use of stem cell treatments that are capable of modulating the immune system. Haematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) therapy are both being investigated as a treatment for IBD. MSC therapy is well tolerated and associated with minimal established side-effects compared to HSC therapy, which involves ablative chemotherapy. Currently, such stem cell therapy is not a standard of care regimen for IBD. However, it promises to become the next generation treatment of choice, especially for severe refractory IBD patients.