NewsMax Health
03 Apr 2015 12:41 PM
By Nick Tate
Brazilian researchers have taken what they describe as a critical first step toward developing a stem cell-based treatment for Parkinson's disease.
Using a federally approved stomach cancer treatment, scientists from D'OR Institute for Research and Education and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro were able to grow dopamine-producing brain cells derived from stem cells and implant them into mice — restoring the animals' motor function without forming tumors.
Parkinson’s, which affect as many 10 million people in the world, is caused by a depletion of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain, leading to physical disabilities.
Current treatments include drugs and electrical implants in the brain that aim to ease symptoms, but they can cause severe side adverse effects and don’t treat the underlying disease or stop it from progression.
But the use of experimental stem cells treatments is proving to be a promising new way to improve motor functions in early studies. But those treatments have frequently led to the development of cancerous tumors in laboratory mice.
To address the problem, the Brazilian researchers tested pre-treated stem cells with mitomycin C, a drug now used to treat stomach cancer. They found that mice engineered to have a mouse form of Parkinson’s had significant improvements in their symptoms after being injected with the treated stem cells. — and did not develop tumors.
The scientists also noted treating the stem cells with mitomycin C induced a four-fold increase in the release of dopamine in the animals.
"This simple strategy of shortly exposing pluripotent stem cells to an anti-cancer drug turned the transplant safer, by eliminating the risk of tumor formation,” said lead researcher Stevens Rehen, who reported the team’s findings in the journal Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience.
Rehen said the work could pave the way for researchers and physicians to begin clinical trials of the technique in patients with Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative conditions.
"Our technique with mitomycin C may speed the proposal of clinical trials with pluripotent cells to several human diseases," said Rehen. "It is the first step to make this kind of treatment with stem cells possible."
© 2015 Newsmax Finance. All rights reserved.
03 Apr 2015 12:41 PM
By Nick Tate
Brazilian researchers have taken what they describe as a critical first step toward developing a stem cell-based treatment for Parkinson's disease.
Using a federally approved stomach cancer treatment, scientists from D'OR Institute for Research and Education and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro were able to grow dopamine-producing brain cells derived from stem cells and implant them into mice — restoring the animals' motor function without forming tumors.
Parkinson’s, which affect as many 10 million people in the world, is caused by a depletion of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain, leading to physical disabilities.
Current treatments include drugs and electrical implants in the brain that aim to ease symptoms, but they can cause severe side adverse effects and don’t treat the underlying disease or stop it from progression.
But the use of experimental stem cells treatments is proving to be a promising new way to improve motor functions in early studies. But those treatments have frequently led to the development of cancerous tumors in laboratory mice.
To address the problem, the Brazilian researchers tested pre-treated stem cells with mitomycin C, a drug now used to treat stomach cancer. They found that mice engineered to have a mouse form of Parkinson’s had significant improvements in their symptoms after being injected with the treated stem cells. — and did not develop tumors.
The scientists also noted treating the stem cells with mitomycin C induced a four-fold increase in the release of dopamine in the animals.
"This simple strategy of shortly exposing pluripotent stem cells to an anti-cancer drug turned the transplant safer, by eliminating the risk of tumor formation,” said lead researcher Stevens Rehen, who reported the team’s findings in the journal Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience.
Rehen said the work could pave the way for researchers and physicians to begin clinical trials of the technique in patients with Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative conditions.
"Our technique with mitomycin C may speed the proposal of clinical trials with pluripotent cells to several human diseases," said Rehen. "It is the first step to make this kind of treatment with stem cells possible."
© 2015 Newsmax Finance. All rights reserved.