Stroke cell therapy: preliminary results are encouraging
Stem cells helped stroke patients start walking
Copper news
Nine stroke patients participating in the first clinical trials of the treatment of this disease using embryonic neural stem cells showed improvement a year after their onset. The studies are conducted on the basis of Glasgow's Southern General Hospital (Great Britain), patients over 60 years old take part in them.
According to the journal NewScientist (Stroke patients improve in first stem cell trial), some of the patients for the first time after they had a stroke can move their limbs, hold objects, and some even walk without support. A month after the start of treatment, all nine study participants had an improvement of one point on a ten-point scale of disability in stroke, and a year later, five patients improved by three points.
ReNeuron, a UK-based therapy development company, spoke about these interim results of research at the European Stroke Conference in London. "We are pleased with the fact that we are seeing real positive changes in the condition of patients without signs of side effects," said ReNeuron representative John Sinden.
According to him, when choosing study participants, first of all attention was paid to the lack of positive dynamics in patients, so that the effect of therapy was more evident.
According to Sinden, embryonic neural stem cells injected into the brain of patients suppress inflammation and catalyze the formation of an updated blood supply system to brain tissues damaged as a result of a stroke.
Research continues, moreover, it is planned to launch a new, larger-scale study of stroke therapy using stem cells with the participation of 41 patients.
Stroke is understood as a violation of the blood circulation of the brain, which leads to damage or death of nerve cells due to the cessation of the flow of oxygen and glucose. The cause of a stroke can be a plaque or a blood clot (ischemic stroke) or a rupture of a vessel (hemorrhagic stroke).
Neural stem cells belong to a group of tissue-specific cells. They differentiate during the development of the embryo and during the fetal period, as a result of which all the nervous structures of the future adult organism are formed. Neural stem cells are capable of both self-renewal and differentiation into different types of nerve tissue cells, for example, into neuroglia cells. Great hopes are pinned on these cells associated with the treatment of many different diseases of the nervous system.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru30.05.2013