Osteoporosis may soon be cured through stem cell therapy, study says
By Ravi Mandalia -
March 19, 2016
Million of people around the world may soon get a cure for osteoporosis as a new study has investigated the potential of stem cell therapy and has found positive results.
While the study published in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine was carried out on mouse model, researchers are optimistic that the therapy could work in humans and that it would offer a single injection treatment for the condition.
The key to the therapy are the defective mesenchymal stem cells, which previous studies have said have a direct causal link with age-related osteoporosis in mice. Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa reason that if a therapy targets these cells, there could be a possibility that osteoporosis could be treated. Researchers propose transplantation of these cells using stem cell therapy.
To test out their hypothesis, Professor William Stanford, senior author of the study, and team injected osteoporotic mice with MSCs from healthy mice. After six months post-injection, a quarter of the life span of these animals, the osteoporotic bone had astonishingly given way to healthy, functional bone.
Researchers say that their findings are quite surprising for they had only hoped for a general increase in bone health, but what they found instead was that the exquisite inner “coral-like” architecture of the bone structure of the injected animals–which is severely compromised in osteoporosis–was restored to normal.
Researchers say that their study and the results they have achieved could open a whole new door for treatment or even indefinite postponing of the onset of osteoporosis.
The best thing about MSCs is that they can be transplanted from one person to another without the need for matching (needed for blood transfusions, for instance) and without being rejected. And this is where the findings turn more exciting.
Researchers say that they are currently conducting ancillary trials with a research group in the U.S., where elderly patients have been injected with MSCs to study various outcomes. Researchers will be able to look at those blood samples for biological markers of bone growth and bone reabsorption and determine if there is bone health improvement. If the results are favourable, larger dedicated trials could follow within the next 5 years.
By Ravi Mandalia -
March 19, 2016
Million of people around the world may soon get a cure for osteoporosis as a new study has investigated the potential of stem cell therapy and has found positive results.
While the study published in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine was carried out on mouse model, researchers are optimistic that the therapy could work in humans and that it would offer a single injection treatment for the condition.
The key to the therapy are the defective mesenchymal stem cells, which previous studies have said have a direct causal link with age-related osteoporosis in mice. Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa reason that if a therapy targets these cells, there could be a possibility that osteoporosis could be treated. Researchers propose transplantation of these cells using stem cell therapy.
To test out their hypothesis, Professor William Stanford, senior author of the study, and team injected osteoporotic mice with MSCs from healthy mice. After six months post-injection, a quarter of the life span of these animals, the osteoporotic bone had astonishingly given way to healthy, functional bone.
Researchers say that their findings are quite surprising for they had only hoped for a general increase in bone health, but what they found instead was that the exquisite inner “coral-like” architecture of the bone structure of the injected animals–which is severely compromised in osteoporosis–was restored to normal.
Researchers say that their study and the results they have achieved could open a whole new door for treatment or even indefinite postponing of the onset of osteoporosis.
The best thing about MSCs is that they can be transplanted from one person to another without the need for matching (needed for blood transfusions, for instance) and without being rejected. And this is where the findings turn more exciting.
Researchers say that they are currently conducting ancillary trials with a research group in the U.S., where elderly patients have been injected with MSCs to study various outcomes. Researchers will be able to look at those blood samples for biological markers of bone growth and bone reabsorption and determine if there is bone health improvement. If the results are favourable, larger dedicated trials could follow within the next 5 years.