Yet another story about treating Parkinson's with stem cells

A neurosurgery team will next month transplant cells from aborted human fetuses into the brain of a person with Parkinson's disease. The operation breaks a decade-long international moratorium on the controversial therapy that was imposed after many patients failed to benefit and no one could work out why.

People with Parkinson's disease suffer from a degeneration of neurons that produce the neuro­transmitter dopamine, which is crucial for normal movement. This often leaves patients with severe mobility problems. Standard treatment includes the drug l-dopa, which replaces dopamine in the brain but can cause side effects. The cellular therapies aim to replace the missing neurons with dopamine-producing (dopaminergic) cells from fetal brains or with those derived from human stem cells. But the trial comes just as other sources of replacement cells derived from human stem cells are rapidly approaching the clinic. And this time, scientists want to make sure that things go better. So the teams involved in all the planned trials have formed a working group to standardize their research and clinical protocols in the hope that their results will be more easily interpretable.

The moratorium on replacement-therapy trials was introduced in 2003 because the early fetal-cell studies had produced varying results that were impossible to interpret.

Read the rest of the article here:

 http://www.nature.com/news/fetal-cell-revival-for-parkinson-s-1.15387

Parkinson’s stem cell project aims for 2014 approval

Parkinson's patient Ed Fitzpatrick speaks
about stem cell research for his disease.
Fitzpatrick talked on a Dec. 7 panel
at the World Stem Cell Summit in
San Diego.

By Bradley J. Fikes 

2:01 P.M.DEC. 8, 2013

 For eight local Parkinson's patients seeking treatment with stem cell technology, 2014 could bring the milestone they've been anticipating.

If all goes well, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will approve an attempt to replace the brain cells destroyed in Parkinson's. The new cells, grown from each patient's own skin cells, are expected to restore normal movement in the patients.

Because the new brain cells are made from the patients' own cells, immunosuppressive drugs shouldn't be needed. Ideally, patients could stop taking their medications and resume normal activities for many years, or even the rest of their lives.

The project, Summit4StemCell.org, is a collaboration between three nonprofits. The Scripps Research Institute handles the science; Scripps Clinic takes care of the medical side; and the Parkinson's Association of San Diego helps to raise money for the self-funded project.

The rest of the story...with lots of videos of the researchers explaining the process and progress. 

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/dec/13/parkinsons-induced-pluripotent-fda/

Patient's own cells might be used as treatment for Parkinson's disease

This illustration shows the image of autotransplantation. The paper shows evidence only for neural cells and the brain, not for other organs. Immunogenicity in other organs needs to be explored.

(Photo Credit: Stem Cell Reports, Morizane et al)

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) taken from a patient hold great therapeutic potential for many diseases. However, studies in rodents have suggested that the body may mount an immune response and destroy cells derived from iPSCs. New research in monkeys refutes these findings, suggesting that in primates like us, such cells will not be rejected by the immune system. In the paper, publishing September 26 in the ISSCR's journal Stem Cell Reports, published by Cell Press, iPSCs from nonhuman primates successfully developed into the neurons depleted by Parkinson's disease while eliciting only a minimal immune response. The cells therefore could hold promise for successful transplantation in humans.

iPSCs are cells that have been genetically reprogrammed to an embryonic stem-cell-like state, meaning that they can differentiate into virtually any of the body's different cell types. iPSCs directed to differentiate into specific cell types offer the possibility of a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat ailments, including Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis.

Studies in rodents have suggested that iPSC-derived cells used for transplantation may be rejected by the body's immune system. To test this in an animal that is more closely related to humans, investigators in Japan directed iPSCs taken from a monkey to develop into certain neurons that are depleted in Parkinson's disease patients. When they were injected into the same monkey's brain (called an autologous transplantation), the neurons elicited only a minimal immune response. In contrast, injections of the cells into immunologically unmatched recipients (called an allogeneic transplantation) caused the body to mount a stronger immune response.

See the rest of the story:
 http://www.sciencecodex.com/patients_own_cells_might_be_used_as_treatment_for_parkinsons_disease-120075

Success and setbacks in embryonic stem cell research for PD

Success and setbacks in embryonic stem cell research  Source: medcitynews.com Current medical news from today, including embryonic stem cell research for PD