Choudhery MS, Arif T, Mahmood R. Aging puzzle: A closer look on the complex dilemma of autologous stem cell therapy. World J Stem Cells 2026; 18(1): 114119 [DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v18.i1.114119]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Mahmood S Choudhery, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Health Sciences Lahore, Khayaban-e-Jamia Punjab, Block D Muslim Town, Lahore 56000, Punjab, Pakistan. ms20031@yahoo.com
Research Domain of This Article
Cell Biology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Jan 26, 2026 (publication date) through Jan 26, 2026
Times Cited of This Article
Times Cited (0)
Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Stem Cells
ISSN
1948-0210
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
Share the Article
Choudhery MS, Arif T, Mahmood R. Aging puzzle: A closer look on the complex dilemma of autologous stem cell therapy. World J Stem Cells 2026; 18(1): 114119 [DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v18.i1.114119]
World J Stem Cells. Jan 26, 2026; 18(1): 114119 Published online Jan 26, 2026. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v18.i1.114119
Aging puzzle: A closer look on the complex dilemma of autologous stem cell therapy
Mahmood S Choudhery, Taqdees Arif, Ruhma Mahmood
Mahmood S Choudhery, Taqdees Arif, Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Health Sciences Lahore, Lahore 56000, Punjab, Pakistan
Ruhma Mahmood, Department of Pathology, Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore 56000, Punjab, Pakistan
Author contributions: Choudhery MS, Arif T, and Mahmood R conceptualized the manuscript; Arif T and Mahmood R wrote the original version of the manuscript and revised the manuscript; Arif T prepared, designed, and modified the figures; Choudhery MS critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors reviewed, read and agreed to the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mahmood S Choudhery, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Health Sciences Lahore, Khayaban-e-Jamia Punjab, Block D Muslim Town, Lahore 56000, Punjab, Pakistan. ms20031@yahoo.com
Received: September 12, 2025 Revised: October 15, 2025 Accepted: November 24, 2025 Published online: January 26, 2026 Processing time: 130 Days and 16.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Stem cell-based therapies, particularly autologous stem cell therapy, hold strong promise for treating age-related degenerative diseases by reducing the risk of immune rejection and graft-vs-host disease. However, the therapeutic efficacy of patient-derived stem cells is often compromised by aging and disease-related decline in their regenerative capacity. To address these limitations, several strategies have been developed, including hypoxic preconditioning, genetic modification, growth factor supplementation, three-dimensional culturing, hybrid approaches, use of bioactive compounds, mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes, targeted activation of signaling pathways and cryopreservation of youthful stem cells. These approaches aim to restore or preserve stem cell functionality, enhancing therapeutic outcomes in elderly patients.