Recent advances in mitochondrial transplantation to treat disease

Mitochondrial transplantation (MT), an innovative regenerative technique widely used to treat diseases caused by mitochondrial dysfunction, shows great promise for clinical application. This procedure can increase the number of mitochondria and improve the function of damaged mitochondria, resulting in increased adenosine triphosphate levels, decreased reactive oxygen species production, improved Ca²⁺ buffering capacity, modulated inflammatory response, and reduced apoptosis to protect cells, thus promoting tissue repair. In this review, we describe research advances in MT over the last five years, focusing on its application in treating various diseases, including ischaemic injuries (of the kidney, heart, lung, and liver), neurodegenerative disorders, spinal cord injury, sepsis, diabetes mellitus, stroke, and ultraviolet radiation injuries, as well as in procedures such as organ transplantation, focusing on instances where MT demonstrated good efficacy. We also cover the application of engineered mitochondria and mitochondrial combination therapies and present the latest advances in improving MT efficiency, as well as the current clinical applications and shortcomings of MT, aiming to provide a theoretical foundation for enhanced MT utilisation in the future.