Advancements in Stem Cell Therapy for Managing Drug-Resistant Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a common chronic disorder of the nervous system and it is typically characterized by repeated seizures that arise from dysregulated electrical activity in the brain. Even with widely used antiseizure drugs and the option of surgery in selected cases, roughly 20 to 30% of patients go on to develop drug-resistant epilepsy, with persistent seizures that are often accompanied by neuronal damage, oxidative stress, and signs of mitochondrial dysfunction. In this context, stem cell therapy has drawn strong interest as a possible therapeutic direction, largely because multiple stem cell populations carry regenerative and neuroprotective potential, including embryonic stem cells (ESCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), neural stem cells (NSCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and adipose-derived regenerative cells (ADRCs). Evidence from animal studies and early clinical work suggests that transplantation approaches might support restoration of inhibitory neuronal networks, tone down neuroinflammatory signaling, and promote broader repair processes within injured circuits, which together could contribute to more durable seizure control. This review highlights recent advances in stem cell-based strategies for epilepsy, with attention to proposed mechanisms, reported therapeutic effects, and the animal models most often used to test these ideas. We also consider related regenerative medicine approaches, such as neuroprotection and electrical stimulation, as adjunct options that may strengthen outcomes in drug-resistant epilepsy by targeting at least part of the underlying biology rather than only suppressing symptoms.