Prospect of Stem Cell Conditioned Medium in Regenerative Medicine

BACKGROUND: Stem cell-derived conditioned medium has a promising prospect to be produced as pharmaceuticals for regenerative medicine. OBJECTIVE: To investigate various methods to obtain stem cell-derived conditioned medium (CM) to get an insight into their prospect of application in various diseases. METHODS: Systematic review using keywords "stem cell" and "conditioned medium" or "secretome" and "therapy." Data concerning treated conditions/diseases, type of cell that was cultured, medium and supplements to culture the cells, culture condition, CM processing, growth factors and other secretions that were analyzed, method of application, and outcome were noted, grouped, tabulated, and analyzed. RESULTS: Most of CM using studies showed good results. However, the various CM, even when they were derived from the same kind of cells, were produced by different condition, that is, from different passage, culture medium, and culture condition. The growth factor yields of the various types of cells were available in some studies, and the cell number that was needed to produce CM for one application could be computed. CONCLUSION: Various stem cell-derived conditioned media were tested on various diseases and mostly showed good results. However, standardized methods of production and validations of their use need to be conducted.