Dr. Christian Jorgensen, head of the clinical unit for osteoarticular diseases, and his team from Lapeyronie University Hospital in Montpellier, France have a treatment for arthritis using the patient’s own [autologous] stem cells. Following the recovery of the stem cells, they were injected directly into the knee joint affected by arthritis. The experiment consisted of three groups receiving different dosages of the stem cells. Interestingly, each group experienced significant improvements in pain and mobility of the joint.
Dr. Henry Klassen of UC Irvine has initiated an FDA approved stem cell based clinical trial for the treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) through the regeneration of damaged retinal tissue. RP is caused by the slow decay of photoreceptors in the retina, which provide vital chemical communication to the brain. The disease is thought to derive from mutations in genes responsible for rods and cones, which ultimately lead to blindness. There is no current treatment for RP.
NHS Blood and Transplant is organizing a stem cell treatment protocol in Liverpool, England for patients with diabetes related kidney disease. The randomized controlled trial will compare injections of mesenchymal stem cells with placebo injections and study whether stem cells will slow down or halt tissue damage, removing the current reliance on dialysis or transplants.
In a recently published study, a team of researchers led by Dr. Giovanni Mancardi from the University of Genoa conducted a phase II clinical trial to compare the effectiveness of conventional multiple sclerosis [MS] therapy to intravenous stem cell transplantation. Throughout the four year trial, the team found that, in addition to significantly decreasing disease progression and brain damage compared to MS drug mitoxantrone [MTX], the transplanted stem cells had migrated into the patients’ bone marrow and stimulated the generation of new, non-harmful immune cells, essentially resetting the immune system.
Researchers at the University Hospital Niño Jesus in Madrid, Spain, are conducting a clinical trial to determine the safety and efficacy of treating cerebral palsy patients with hematopoietic stem cells from cord blood, as well as mesenchymal stem cells [MSCs] from umbilical cord tissue. The scientists will compare the two types of autologous [the patient’s own] stem cells in their effectiveness regarding immune-regulation, anti-inflammatory activity, and stimulation of brain tissue regeneration.
Researchers at Mayo Clinic have introduced a new therapy using cardiogenically-instructed stem cells that can improve heart health. This is the first clinical study for the targeted regeneration of a failing organ. The Mayo Clinic study represents what we believe to be the gold standard in regenerative treatments – utilizing the patient’s own stem cells for the therapy. As a result of the use of autologous [the patient’s own] stem cells, there were no complications in any of the patients. Every patient in the stem cell treatment group improved. "The benefit to patients who received cardiopoietic stem cell therapy was significant," said Dr. Terzic – the senior author of the study, with improvements in heart pumping function, physical performance (such as walking distance) and overall quality of life.
A Phase I/II clinical trial to treat dry age-related macular degeneration (Dry-AMD) is being conducted by StemCells, Inc. Dry-AMD is the most common type of macular degeneration and affects 90% of patients with the condition. It is a chronic eye disease that causes vision loss in the center of the field of vision and is the major cause of blindness and visual impairment in adults older than 50.