Chapter 6 - Adult stem cells in regenerative medicine of digestive system

Stem cell therapy is an expanding medical field, potentially treating diseased and damaged tissues in the human body. Organs of the digestive system combine and interact to effectively process nutrients essential to overall health and expel waste materials. Consisting of highly specialized tissues, the components of this system can be prone to a range of complex disorders since cellular activity is precisely controlled to ensure appropriate function. The use of adult stem cells in regenerative medicine is emerging as a novel approach to treating diseases affecting digestive functions. Increasingly, new treatments aim beyond the normal disease progression and symptom management strategies for those with advanced organ damage, such as fibrosis, and those unresponsive to current therapies. Understanding the functions and pathology of digestive system components is essential to finding suitable treatments. In animal research studies, mesenchymal stem cells have shown great ability to reduce chronic inflammation and abnormal immune responses, characteristic of many human digestive system disorders, such as peptic ulcers and IBD. However, despite the promising results, more research on stem cell therapy's safety, efficacy, practicality, and long-term effects in humans is required. Many studies have monitored stem cell treatments' immediate and short-term effects but lack long-term monitoring of the condition and human clinical trials. This chapter will address the nature and diseases of the digestive system along with the use of stem cells in the research for new treatments.