Ciencias de la Salud- Caso clínico

Regenerative therapy with stem cells, exosomes and ozone, in a patient with spinal cord trauma and section at C4-C7

Terapía regenerativa con células madre, exosomas y ozono, en un paciente con trauma medular y sección en C4-C7

Authors

Abstract

Introduction: Traumatic spinal cord injuries are damage to the spinal cord tissue caused by traffic accidents, falls (local trauma), and violent trauma, specifically from firearms, cutting, or blunt force trauma. Regenerative therapy with mesenchymal stem cells and the use of exosomes have shown promising results, with functional recovery. Objective: To describe the clinical, functional, and neurological course of a patient with a partial cervical spinal cord injury treated with combined regenerative therapy. Methods and results: This is a descriptive case report study. We present the case of a 42-year-old patient with trauma and spinal cord injury from C4 to C7 who, after treatment in two doses with stem cells, exosomes, platelet-rich plasma, and ozone, showed neurological and functional improvement, as well as improvement in his pressure ulcers. Conclusion: Improvement in functional status and ulcer healing was observed following treatment with stem cells and exosomes. These findings support the need for clinical trials and objective clinical characterization of patients in order to strengthen the scientific foundation for the development of these therapies.

Introducción: las lesiones raquimedulares traumáticas son el daño del tejido nervioso medular por accidentes de tránsito, caídas - traumas locales, y traumas violentos específicamente por arma de fuego, cortantes o contundentes. La terapia regenerativa con células madre mesenquimales y el uso de exosomas, han presentado resultados prometedores con recuperación funcional. Objetivo: describir las características clínicas de un paciente con sección medular parcial postraumática, tratado con células madre y exosomas. Métodos y resultados: estudio descriptivo tipo reporte de caso. Se presenta un paciente de 42 años con trauma y sección medular de C4 a C7, que posterior al tratamiento en dos dosis con células madre, exosomas, plasma rico en plaquetas y ozono, se evidenció una mejoría neurológica, funcional y de sus úlceras por presión. Conclusión: Se observó una mejoría en la funcionalidad y en la cicatrización de las úlceras posterior al tratamiento con células madre y exosomas. Estos hallazgos respaldan la necesidad de realizar ensayos clínicos y una caracterización clínica objetiva de los pacientes, con el fin de fortalecer el desarrollo de estas terapias sobre bases científicas sólidas.  

Keywords

  • Exosomas
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells
  • Ozono
  • Spinal Cord Injuries
  • plasma rico en plaquetas

References

Chen, Y., Tang, Y., Vogel, L. C., & Devivo, M. J. Causes of spinal cord injury. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil. 2013. 19(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1310/sci1901-1

Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS). Lesión de la medula espinal EE.UU. 2024, Citado en: 2025. Disponible en: https://www.who.int/es/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/spinal-cord-injury.

Margetis K, Das JM. Lesiones de la médula espinal UK. 2025, Citado en 2025. Disponible en: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560721/.

Muñoz-Maldonado MC, Vallés-Casanova M, Sotomayor-Espichan R, Lazo L. Estudio comparativo de la severidad del daño neurológico en dos cohortes de pacientes con lesión medular cervical traumática. Revista del Cuerpo Médico Hospital Nacional Almanzor Aguinaga Asenjo. 2023; 16(2):e1693. https://doi.org/10.35434/rcmhnaaa.2023.162.1693

Alonso A, Rodríguez, E. Características clínicas, complicaciones secundarias y apoyos en personas con lesión medular traumática en Asturias. Enfermería Global, 19(60), 322-348. https://dx.doi.org/10.6018/eglobal.421941

Cardile D, Calderone A, De Luca R, Corallo F, Quartarone A, Calabrò RS. The Quality of Life in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury: Assessment and Rehabilitation. J Clin Med. 2024; 13(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13061820

Adelipour M, Lubman DM, Kim J. Potential applications of mesenchymal stem cells and their derived exosomes in regenerative medicine. Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2023;23(6):491-507. https://doi.org/10.1080/14712598.2023.2211203

Gemayel J, Chaker D, El Hachem G, Mhanna M, Salemeh R, Hanna C, et al. Mesenchymal stem cells-derived secretome and extracellular vesicles: perspective and challenges in cancer therapy and clinical applications. Clin Transl Oncol. 2023;25(7):2056-68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-023-03115-7

Poongodi R, Hsu YW, Yang TH, Huang YH, Yang KD, Lin HC, Cheng JK. Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicle-Mediated Therapeutic Signaling in Spinal Cord Injury. Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Jan 16;26(2):723. https://doi: 10.3390/ijms26020723.

Nakazaki M, Yokoyama T, Lankford KL, Hirota R, Kocsis JD, Honmou O. Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Their Extracellular Vesicles: Therapeutic Mechanisms for Blood-Spinal Cord Barrier Repair Following Spinal Cord Injury. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Dec 16;25(24):13460. https://doi: 10.3390/ijms252413460.

An J, Chen B, Zhang R, Tian D, Shi K, Zhang L, Zhang G, Wang J, Yang H. Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes in Spinal Cord Injury. Mol Neurobiol. 2025 Jan;62(1):1291-1315. https://doi: 10.1007/s12035-024-04490-0.

Zhou C, Jiao L, Qiao X, Zhang W, Chen S, Yang C, Meng M. Combined treatment of umbilical cord Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells and platelet-rich plasma for a surgical patient with hospital-acquired pressure ulcer: a case report and literature review. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2024 Jul 9;12:1424941. https://doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2024.1424941.

Torres-Guzman RA, Avila FR, Maita K, Garcia JP, De Sario GD, Borna S, Eldaly AS, Quinones-Hinojosa A, Zubair AC, Ho OA, Forte AJ. Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Healing Outcomes in Clinical and Pre-Clinical Models to Treat Pressure Ulcers: A Systematic Review. J Clin Med. 2023 Dec 7;12(24):7545. https://doi: 10.3390/jcm12247545.

Su Y, Huang Z, Chen Y, Deng J, Huang Y, Xiong W. Exosomes from miR-21-5p-modified adipose-derived stem cells promote wound healing by regulating M2 macrophage polarization in a rodent model of pressure ulcer. J Mol Histol. 2025 Apr 18;56(3):135. https://doi: 10.1007/s10735-025-10407-5.

Jo C, Choi YJ, Lee TJ. Therapeutic Potential of Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes in Skin Wound Healing. Biomimetics (Basel). 2025; 10(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics10080546

Singh N, Guha L, Kumar H. From hope to healing: Exploring the therapeutic potential of exosomes in spinal cord injury. Extracellular Vesicle. 2024;3:100044. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vesic.2024.100044

Ma Y, Yu X, Pan J, Wang Y, Li R, Wang X, et al. Exosomes: a promising microenvironment modulator for spinal cord injury treatment. International Journal of Biological Sciences. 2025;21(8):3791-824. https://doi.org/ 10.7150/ijbs.115242

Damianakis EI, Benetos IS, Evangelopoulos DS, Kotroni A, Vlamis J, Pneumaticos SG. Stem Cell Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury: A Review of Recent Clinical Trials. Cureus. 2022; 14(4):e24575. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.24575

Song N, Scholtemeijer M, Shah K. Mesenchymal Stem Cell Immunomodulation: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2020 Sep;41(9):653-664. https://doi:10.1016/j.tips.2020.06.009.

Tan F, Li X, Wang Z, Li J, Shahzad K, Zheng J. Clinical applications of stem cell-derived exosomes. Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy. 2024; 9(1):17. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-023-01704-0.

Yang H, Xu F, Zheng X, Yang S, Ren Z, Yang J. Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells Prevent Bacterial Biofilm Formation. Biomed Res Int. 2022 Mar 3;2022:1530525. https://doi:10.1155/2022/1530525.

Jin LY, Li J, Wang KF, Xia WW, Zhu ZQ, Wang CR, Li XF, Liu HY. Blood-Spinal Cord Barrier in Spinal Cord Injury: A Review. J Neurotrauma. 2021 May 1;38(9):1203-1224. https://doi:10.1089/neu.2020.7413.

Yu T, Yang LL, Zhou Y, Wu MF, Jiao JH. Exosome-mediated repair of spinal cord injury: a promising therapeutic strategy. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2024 Jan 2;15(1):6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13287-023-03614-y.

Li S, Li Y, Zhu K, He W, Guo X, Wang T, et al. Exosomes from mesenchymal stem cells: Potential applications in wound healing. Life Sci. 2024; 357:123066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2024.123066.

Wen Q, Liu D, Wang X, Zhang Y, Fang S, Qiu X, Chen Q. A systematic review of ozone therapy for treating chronically refractory wounds and ulcers. Int Wound J. 2022 May;19(4):853-870. https://doi: 10.1111/iwj.13687.

Montoto-Meijide R, Meijide-Faílde R, Díaz-Prado SM, Montoto-Marqués A. Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy in Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jul 20;24(14):11719. https://doi: 10.3390/ijms241411719.

Muthu S., Jeyaraman M., Gulati A., Arora A. Evidencia actual sobre la terapia con células madre mesenquimales para la lesión medular traumática: Revisión sistemática y metaanálisis. Cytotherapy. 2020;23:186–197. https://doi: 10.1016/j.jcyt.2020.09.007

Herzer KR, Chen Y, Heinemann AW, González-Fernández M. Association Between Time to Rehabilitation and Outcomes After Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2016 Oct;97(10):1620-1627.e4. https://doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2016.05.009.

Martin JR, Cleary D, Abraham ME, Mendoza M, Cabrera B, Jamieson C, et al. Long-term clinical and safety outcomes from a single-site phase 1 study of neural stem cell transplantation for chronic thoracic spinal cord injury. Cell Rep Med. 2024; 5(12):101841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2024.101841.

Akhlaghpasand M, Tavanaei R, Hosseinpoor M, Golmohammadi M, Mohammadi I, Jolfayi AG, et al. Neurological, functional, and quality of life outcomes following combined mesenchymal stem cell and Schwann cell therapy in spinal cord injury: a 9-year experience. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2025; 16(1):226. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13287-025-04312-7.

Abolghasemi R, Davoudi-Monfared E, Allahyari F, Farzanegan G. Systematic Review of Cell Therapy Efficacy in Human Chronic Spinal Cord Injury. Tissue Engineering Part B: Reviews. 2024;30(2):254-69. https://doi.org/10.1089/ten.TEB.2023.0130

Published

April 1, 2026

History

Received
12 Dec 2025
Accepted
23 Feb 2026
Published
1 Apr 2026

Metrics

224 downloads

  1. 2026-04: 96
  2. 2026-05: 35
  3. 2026-06: 0
  4. 2026-07: 0
  5. 2026-08: 0
  6. 2026-09: 3
  7. 2026-10: 90

last 7 months

How to Cite

Mimbela Palma, I., Castro, C. A., Escobar, C. H., Ramírez Segura, C., & Gómez, D. (2026). Regenerative therapy with stem cells, exosomes and ozone, in a patient with spinal cord trauma and section at C4-C7. Contemporary Research, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.58995/redlic.rmic.v4.n2.a188