Advances in nanotechnology versus stem cell therapy for the theranostics of multiple sclerosis disease

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease afflicting over 2.8 million people worldwide. Symptoms of this disorder include discrepancies in speech, hearing impairment, fatigue, muscle weakness, walking problems, balance issues, and spasticity, which could eventually lead to paralysis. There have been reports of several treatment approaches that have had some side effects. Also, there is no certain test or indicator for the diagnosis of MS, so far. The recent therapeutic are trying to find out an actual dealing to stop or reduce progression of MS diseases and conserve nervous injury such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Using stem cell and nanotechnology as new therapeutic strategies may increase the efficacy of therapies. Although nanotechnology approaches and cell-based therapies seem to be separate area in the treatment of MS, they share similarities and could be used in combination for much more significant results. Nanoparticles harvested from stem cells, such as MSCs harvested exosomes, have shown significant anti-inflammatory effects similar to stem cells. Moreover, nanoparticles are also used for labeling and tracking the stem cells and as agents to facilitate their delivery. More interestingly, nanotechnology could be used as a tool to apply changes to stem cells by delivering genes and small RNA into stem cells to make them potent. Together, evidence is promising and positive regarding both stem cell and nanotechnology therapies for MS. These approaches harbor the great potential to introduce effective and innovative therapies. Although, there is no research that has compared and combined new strategies to manage MS management and some diseases have been treated with a combination of one or more modern therapy techniques, no previous research has compared and combined new strategies to manage MS. Therefore, this review has been performed to explore the feasibility and efficiency of integrating stem cells and nanotechnology in the treatment of MS for the first time.