The Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Post-Stroke Depression

Post-stroke depression (PSD) is the most prevalent neuropsychological disorder among stroke survivors, affecting over 30% of patients. It significantly impairs patients' quality of life and imposes a substantial burden on individuals, families, and society. Currently, the primary treatment for PSD focuses on conventional antidepressant therapies, with a lack of innovative approaches. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel targeted therapies for PSD. This review synthesizes PSD pathogenesis as a multi-system network disorder involving monoamine deficits, neuroinflammation, HPA axis dysfunction, and neurotrophic imbalance. Within this framework, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation, as an emerging therapeutic strategy, may exert beneficial effects through anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective mechanisms, and the provision of neurotrophic factors. This review provides a preclinical framework that highlights the potential of MSC-based strategies, while emphasizing the need for further validation in PSD-specific models before clinical translation.