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Biotech / Medical : CLTX: Celsus Therapeutics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Miljenko Zuanic who wrote (3)	5/16/2001 11:59:41 PM
From: Miljenko Zuanic	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 40

Doctors report nerve repair in gene therapy By Globe Staff, 5/15/2001 octors trying to grow new blood vessels in the legs of patients with poor circulation yesterday reported an unexpected result: In 10 of 19 patients, the gene therapy treatment appeared to repair nerve damage that is usually considered irreversible. Researchers at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton, led by Dr. Drasko Simovic, assistant professor of neurology at Tufts University School of Medicine, cautioned that the results are preliminary, since the study had no control group and some results could be attributable to a placebo effect. They now want a controlled trial to explore whether a growth factor that stimulates blood vessel growth also repairs nerves, either by boosting growth of microscopic blood vessels in nerve walls, or by causing growth of nerves themselves. The findings, reported in this month's Archives of Neurology, were derived from Dr. Jeffrey Isner's study of patients with arterial disease severe enough to possibly require amputation. Funded by Genzyme, the study's aim was to improve circulation by injecting vascular endothelial growth factor to grow blood vessels. One patient, whom Simovic called ''very observant,'' noticed that the numbness that used to spread across much of his leg had shrunk to a small patch. The researchers then began testing nerve response as well as blood vessel growth. They started with 29 patients; after six months, 17 had not dropped out or suffered amputations. Electrical tests showed that nerve function improved in 10 of the 19 limbs being treated. Twelve patients reported decreased symptoms. Four of six diabetic patients showed improvement. By contrast, there was no neurological improvement in any of the patients who didn't receive the injections, Draskovic said.