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Further Developments in Stem Cell Research to Treat Heart Attack and Fatal Neural Disorder

TAMPA, January 5, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An animal study has shown that human stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood have greatly reduced damage from heart attacks and restored the heart's function to near normal. Researchers at the University of South Florida Health Sciences Center injected the cells into rats after the heart attacks and found that not only did the cells repair the damage, but they did so without the need for immune suppressant drugs.

A serious problem with stem cell treatment is that if the cells are derived from another person, whether the source of the cells is adult or embryonic, they are treated as foreign invaders by the patient's immune system.

"Our initial results are extremely promising, but raise questions about how these umbilical cord blood cells work. Are they transforming into new heart muscle cells or secreting growth factors that trigger the heart to repair itself? We need more research to insure such therapy will ultimately benefit patients with little or no side effects", said Dr. Henning, lead author of the study.

The human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) stem cells were injected directly into the heart muscle of rats an hour after heart attacks were induced. After four months of recovery, the size of scar tissue left by dead heart muscle was approximately three times smaller in the HUCB treated rats than in the untreated rats.

In related news, the Palo Alto, CA, biotechnology company, Stem Cells Inc. reports that it has filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start the small safety study involving the use of brain stem cells to treat Batten disease, a rare but fatal genetic disease that attacks the central nervous systems of children.

Batten disease causes personality and behavior changes, slow learning, clumsiness, or stumbling. Over time, affected children suffer mental impairment, worsening seizures, and progressive loss of sight and motor skills. Eventually, children with Batten disease become blind, bedridden, and demented. Batten disease is often fatal by the late teens or twenties.

The proposed research by Stem Cells Inc. would be the first effort to treat the disease using neural stem cells. The primary goal would be safety, but it will also evaluate the treatment's impact on disease progression, the company said.

Read Newswise coverage:
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/509065/

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