MS patients receive adult stem cells in Israeli study
By ISRAEL21c staff December 25, 2007
'Most MS patients reported a stabilization of their condition and
some an improvement in function, especially in sphincter control,
muscle power in arms, tremor and stability in walking.'
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Hadassah University Hospital
Scientists based at Jerusalem's Hadassah University Hospital have
broken new ground in the field of stem cell research by injecting
sufferers of neurological diseases with therapeutic quantities of
cultured adult stem cells.
The Hadassah neurologists, working under the guidance of team leaders
Professor Dimitrious Karussis and Prof. Shimon Slavin, the recently
retired head of Hadassah's bone marrow unit, extracted stem cells
from the hip bone marrow of 26 multiple sclerosis (MS) and amytrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. After a two-month long process of
in vitro cleansing, multiplication and chemical 'tagging', the cells
were re-injected into the patients via lumbar puncture.
According to Karussis, the trials were the first in the world to use
this type of stem cells. "The sole aim of this study was to explore
the feasibility and the safety of this treatment, since it is applied
for first time," Karussis told ISRAEL21c.
No adverse effects were noted, and the experiment was deemed a
success. Even more encouragingly, patients also displayed anecdotal
improvements in clinical symptoms, leading the way for further
developments in forthcoming clinical trials.
"Most MS patients reported a stabilization of their condition and
some an improvement in function, especially in sphincter control,
muscle power in arms, tremor and stability in walking," Karussis
said. "ALS patients continued to show signs of deterioration - though
at a lesser than previous degree."
For both groups of patients, any such news is good news. MS, which
affects over 2.5 million people worldwide, causes damage to the
body's central nervous system - the brain and spinal cord - and
results in impaired sensory, motor, balance and vision function. The
rarer, more rapidly progressing ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's
disease, involves a similar degeneration of neuronal cells, causing
the gradual and fatal loss of the patient's capacity for movement.
Because both diseases are caused by the deterioration of a specific
type of cell, they are prime targets for stem cell treatment.
In extensive experimentation on animal models of MS and ALS, the
Hadassah researchers found that transplanted adult stem cells began
to differentiate into the kinds of cells which the diseases had
destroyed, suggesting that it might be possible to regenerate damaged
nervous systems through cell re-growth.
After the equivalent of one or two years in the human progression of
the diseases, the treated lab mice retained 90 percent of their
neurons, despite suffering from a similar motor neuron disorder.
The most recent safety study, says Karussis, marks the first time
that such adult stem cells have been injected into human patients.
Although the small-scale study lacked a control group, and thus
remains highly experimental, it has paved the way for a larger
efficacy trial to be held over the course of the next few years.
"We are encouraged as these are patients with advanced cases, many of
them in wheelchairs,
The research, the scientists say, is significant since most attention
in recent years has been paid to therapies using embryonic, rather
than mature, stem cells. But unlike embryonic stem cells, this kind
of therapy offers practical advantages because the patient can serve
as his or her own donor, significantly reducing the chances of immune
system rejection. Such an approach also avoids the complex ethical
issues invoked when stem cells are obtained from embryonic sources.
The researchers hope to enlarge the safety study to include more
patients, and then launch a controlled clinical trial of the
therapies. They are happy to receive applications from possible
participants, they say.
In the meantime, however, the group must first obtain funding to
cover the expense of clinical treatment - up to $20,000 per patient -
and must receive a license from the Ministry of Health, which may
prove a lengthy process. Such hurdles are significant - but the
benefits, say the team, will be worth it.
Stem cells, Karussis notes, "have already shown some promise in the
treatment of joint and bone diseases, immune conditions and ischemia
of the heart." And he is optimistic, he says, that MS and ALS will
join that auspicious list one day "not far into the future."
http://www.israel21
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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