Limbs saved by menstrual blood stem cells
Cells obtained from menstrual blood, termed 'endometrial regenerative
cells' (ERCs) are capable of restoring blood flow in an animal model
of advanced peripheral artery disease. A study published today in
BioMed Central's open access Journal of Translational Medicine
demonstrates that when circulation-
injections, circulation and functionality were restored.
Critical limb ischemia, an advanced form of peripheral artery
disease, causes approximately 150,000 amputations per year in the US.
Currently there are no medical or surgical interventions that are
effective in the advanced stages of the disease. ERCs are cells taken
from menstrual blood that are capable of forming into at least 9
different tissue types, including heart, liver and lung. Their
discovery won the 'Medicine Research Award of the Year' award for
BioMed Central's Research Awards in 2007.
Dr. Michael Murphy, a vascular surgeon from Indiana University and
lead author of this study has already performed clinical trials with
adult stem cells for patients with peripheral artery disease. He
stated, "The advantage of ERCs is that they can be used in an 'off
the shelf' manner, meaning they can be delivered to the point of
care, do not require matching, and are easily injectable without the
need for complex equipment."
The experiments were performed as a collaboration between University
of Western Ontario, Scripps Research Institute, Indiana University,
and several other academic centers. The ERC cell population is
currently being developed by the US publicly traded company Medistem
Inc, who supported these studies.
"We are proud of assembling such a strong, clinically experienced
team to contribute to these studies" said Dr. Thomas Ichim, CEO of
Medistem. "Dr. Ewa Carrier and Suman Kambhampati are hematologists
who use stem cells on a regular basis, Dr. Angle is a vascular
surgeon, who like Dr. Murphy sees CLI on a daily basis, and Dr. Amit
Patel has performed numerous cardiac stem cell clinical trials. With
such a team that understands not only the science, but also the
practical implementation, we feel we are well positioned to translate
this discovery into a practical therapy in the near future".
###
Notes to Editors
Allogenic Endometrial Regenerative Cells: An "Off the Shelf Solution"
For Critical Limb Ischemia?
Michael P Murphy, Hao Wang, Amit N Patel, Suman Kambhampati, Niren
Angle, Kyle W Chan, Annette M Marleau, Andrew Pyszniak, Ewa Carrier,
Thomas E Ichim and Neil H Riordan Journal of Translational Medicine
(in press)
During embargo, article available here: http://www.translat
medicine.com/
After the embargo, article available at journal website:
http://www.translat
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing
for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available
free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.
Article citation and URL available on request at
press@biomedcentral
Journal of Translational Medicine is an open access, peer-reviewed
online journal focussing on information derived from human
experimentation so as to optimise the communication between basic and
clinical science.
BioMed Central (http://www.biomedce
online publishing house committed to providing immediate access
without charge to the peer-reviewed biological and medical research
it publishes. This commitment is based on the view that open access
to research is essential to the rapid and efficient communication of
science.
Public release date: 18-Aug-2008
Contact: Graeme Baldwin
graeme.baldwin@
44-020-707-94804
BioMed Central
http://www.eurekale
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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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