Tested on goats
The effectiveness of intervertebral discs from stem cells has been proven
Sergey Kolenov, Hi-tech+
Intervertebral discs grown from stem cells were tested for the first time on large animals – goats. It is too early to talk about experiments with humans, but the data obtained give hope that in the future the installation of biological implants will become a familiar procedure.
Serious degeneration of intervertebral discs is treated with spinal surgery: the damaged disc is removed, and adjacent vertebrae are spliced into a single bone. This is a common operation, but it reduces the mobility of the patient and increases the pressure on the remaining discs. An alternative approach involving the installation of an endoprosthesis also has a number of disadvantages. To make such prostheses more effective, scientists suggest growing them in a test tube from living cells. However, as noted Science Magazine, little is known yet how such structures will behave after implantation.
In a new study, described in a Penn Medicine press release Treating Spinal Pain with Replacement Discs Made of “Engineered Living Tissue” Moves Closer to Reality, scientists filled polymer gel cylinders with stem cells and then placed them between two plates simulating adjacent vertebrae. Then artificial discs were implanted in experimental animals. 14 rats were implanted in the tail, and 7 goats – in the cervical spine. For several weeks, scientists observed the movements of the animals, after which they euthanized them and analyzed the condition of the disks.
It turned out that the disks were successfully integrated into the body and withstood the loads as effectively as the real ones.
According to scientists, the fact that intervertebral discs from stem cells successfully work in the body of such large animals as goats gives hope that one day the technology can be applied to humans.
Article by Gullbrand et al. Long-term mechanical function and integration of an implanted tissue-engineered intervertebral disc is published in the journal Science Translational Medicine – VM.
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