Prospects of Regenerative Medicine in the Treatment of Pulmonary Diseases

Abstract

Respiratory diseases represent a wide array of most common diseases with great social and financial burden. Despite the obvious progress in the treatment of patients with respiratory pathology, achieved in the last decade, there are still many incurable disorders such as emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary hypertension, etc. The results of treatment of these disorders are far from perfect and often the only today alternative is lung transplantation. Regenerative medicine could become a new solution, offering real tools for severe and progressive lung diseases. To date, numerous preclinical studies have proven the effectiveness of regenerative technologies in different animal models and in addition quite a few clinical trials have been started with the first results. This review critically evaluates the data obtained in the experimental and clinical studies, with the emphasis on advances and limitations of regenerative medicine.

Keywords: Airway engineering, ARDS, COPD, Emphysema, Pulmonary fibrosis, Pulmonary hypertension, Regenerative medicine, Respiratory diseases, Sepsis, Stem cell therapy.