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Updated: May 9, 2026

Transplantation of Olfactory Ensheathing Cells to Evaluate Functional Recovery after Peripheral Nerve Injury
Published on: February 23, 2014
Olfactory ensheathing cells: Part II--source of cells and application to patients
1Department of Brain, Repair and Rehabilitation, Institute of Neurology, University College London, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom; National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom.
Objective:
To assess clinical methods of sourcing human olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs), and the results of present day clinical studies in OEC transplantation.
Methods:
Review of literature.
Results:
Present clinical studies of OEC transplantation have demonstrated the feasibility and safety of the technique, and no significant complications have occurred from harvest of the olfactory mucosa to culture OECs. These reported studies have not been designed to determine whether clinical outcome is improved by transplantation.
Conclusions:
OEC transplantation strategies need to be studied further. At present clinical models for testing OECs vary in methodology and quality, and until high-quality, well-designed, and sufficiently powered studies have been performed, the true effect of OEC treatment for patients will remain unclear.
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