Stem Cells for Brain Injuries
Texas scientists will conduct the first human trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of using stem cells to treat brain injuries.
December 21, 2005
The first clinical trial to investigate the potential of using stem cells to treat children who have suffered traumatic brain injuries will begin in early 2006, University of Texas Medical School researchers announced Tuesday.
“This would be an absolutely novel treatment, the first ever with potential to repair a traumatically damaged brain,” said James Baumgartner, associate professor of pediatric neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical School.
The trial will not use embryonic stem cells, but stem cells derived from the patients’ own bone marrow.
Unlike injuries to muscles, skin, and bone, brain injuries do not repair themselves. As a result, between 15 and 25 percent of children who receive a traumatic brain injury die. Those who survive are affected for the rest of their lives.
“All we can do now is try to prevent secondary damage by relieving pressure on the brain caused by the initial injury,” said Charles Cox, distinguished professor in pediatric surgery and trauma at the University of Texas Medical School. “There is no reparative treatment for traumatic brain injury.”
Stem Cell Migration
Based on their observations in animals, the scientists hope that stem cells derived from the bone marrow will migrate to the childrens’ injured brains, where they will develop into new nerve cells.
For the trial, professors Baumgartner and Cox have regulators’ permission to extract bone marrow from the hips of 10 children between the ages of 5 and 14 who receive a brain injury. Permission will also have to be granted by each child’s parents.
They will then extract mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow and deliver them intravenously back into the child within 48 hours of a brain injury occurring.
The scientists say that they will evaluate the brain function of the children in the trial one month and six months following the procedure.
“All the preclinical data suggest this is a safe procedure with substantial information suggesting a possible treatment effect,” said Professor Cox.
“It could be the difference between being able to recognize your loved ones and not being able to, or between doing things for yourself or having to rely on others,” he added.
The trial is funded by the Memorial Hermann Foundation; The Office of the President at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston; The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of The National Institutes of Health.
redherring.com
Dubi |
