Download PDF
Open Access
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Sleep Sci 2025; 18(03): e365-e368
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1809993
Case Report

Insomnia Improved by Intravenous Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplant: A Case Report

Authors

  • Takahiro Honda Pazili 

    Regenerative Medicine, Department of Cell Therapy, Japan Tokyo Stem Cell Transplant Research Institute, Cyuou-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Funding Source This study received no funding.
Further Information
Also available at
  Permissions and Reprints
Preview

Abstract

While several therapeutic options for insomnia are currently available, they often require long-term use and come with certain disadvantages. Given insomnia's significant impact on health overall, more effective treatments are warranted. Here, we report two patients with moderate to severe insomnia whose symptoms significantly improved following the intravenous administration of ex vivo-expanded bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC).

The cases were 50-year-old and 38-year-old men with mild diabetes. They both developed insomnia several years ago and suffered from it despite taking some medications. We cultured their bone-marrow-derived MSCs and intravenously administered 1,5 × 108 cells to each patient. After the treatment, the insomnia of both patients was drastically improved, while diabetes itself showed only mild improvement. Notably, their improvements were associated with an increase in plasma interleukin-4 levels. This is the first case report demonstrating the therapeutic effects of MSCs on insomnia.

Keywords

insomnia - mesenchymal stem cells - cell transplantation - interleukin-4

Ethical Declaration

This case study was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. The ethics committee in Japan Tokyo Stem Cell Transplant Research Institute, consisting of experts in several areas including stem cell research, stem cell treatment, law in medicine and human rights, approved this stem cell treatment, and the approval number is A005.


Data Availability

The data of the clinical record of this patient are available from the author upon request.




Publication History

Received: 08 September 2024

Accepted: 19 May 2025

Article published online:
16 September 2025

© 2025. Brazilian Sleep Academy. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.
Rua Rego Freitas, 175, loja 1, República, São Paulo, SP, CEP 01220-010, Brazil