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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Crit Care Med. Dec 9, 2025; 14(4): 103782
Published online Dec 9, 2025. doi: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i4.103782
Published online Dec 9, 2025. doi: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i4.103782
Efficacy and safety of exosomes from Wharton’s Jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells in traumatic brain injury
Serdar Kabatas, Erdinç Civelek, Eyüp Can Savrunlu, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Health Sciences Turkey, Gaziosmanpaşa Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul 34255, Türkiye
Serdar Kabatas, Center for Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Research and Practice, University of Health Sciences Turkey, Istanbul 34255, Türkiye
Necati Kaplan, Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul Rumeli University, Optimed International Çorlu Hospital, Tekirdağ 59860, Türkiye
Tunç Akkoc, Department of Pediatric Allergy-Immunology, Marmara University, Istanbul 34899, Türkiye
Tunç Akkoc, Department of Immunology, Marmara University, Istanbul 34854, Türkiye
Nurten Küçükçakır, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Romatem Bursa Hospital, Bursa 16080, Türkiye
Mehmet Bozkurt, Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Private Practice, Istanbul 34367, Türkiye
Erdal Karaöz, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research and Manufacturing (LivMedCell), Liv Hospital, Istanbul 34340, Türkiye
Erdal Karaöz, Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Istinye University, Istanbul 34010, Türkiye
Erdal Karaöz, Center for Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering Research and Practice, Istinye University, Istanbul 34340, Türkiye
Author contributions: Kabatas S, Civelek E and Savrunlu EC designed the research study; Civelek E, Kabatas S, Savrunlu EC, Kaplan N, Küçükçakır N, Bozkurt M performed the research; Kabatas S, Civelek E, Savrunlu EC, Akkoc T Kaplan N contributed new reagents and analytic tools; Civelek E, Kabatas S, Kaplan N, Savrunlu EC, Akkoç T, Bozkurt M, Küçükçakır N, Karaöz E analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The present study was approved by the local medical ethics committee (protocol number: 22122023.1).
Informed consent statement: There is human subject in this article and written informed consents were obtained from the patient for their anonymized information to be published in this article and before the stem cell therapies.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
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: Serdar Kabatas, MD, Full Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Health Sciences Turkey, Gaziosmanpaşa Training and Research Hospital, Karayolları Mahallesi, Osmanbey Caddesi 616. Sokak No. 10, Gaziosmanpaşa, Istanbul 34255, Türkiye. kabatasserdar@hotmail.com
Received: December 4, 2024
Revised: April 1, 2025
Accepted: June 7, 2025
Published online: December 9, 2025
Processing time: 364 Days and 0.2 Hours
Revised: April 1, 2025
Accepted: June 7, 2025
Published online: December 9, 2025
Processing time: 364 Days and 0.2 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (MSCdE) therapy shows promise for traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients, with significant improvements in motor and cognitive function reflected in functional independence measure scores. The treatment was well tolerated, with mild, temporary side effects such as subfebrile fever and pain, and no serious adverse events reported. Enhanced Karnofsky Performance Scale scores suggest improved quality of life and functional status, supporting its potential for long-term recovery. While spasticity improvement was observed, it was not statistically significant, possibly due to mild baseline spasticity. These findings support MSCdE therapy as a potential treatment for TBI, warranting further validation through larger randomized controlled trials.