Japan's Riken research institute in Kyoto is a
world leader in groundbreaking iPS cells
|
Japanese researchers on Monday announced the
first human trial using a kind of stem cell to treat Parkinson's disease,
building on earlier animal trials. The research team at Kyoto University plans
to inject five million induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells -- which have the
potential to develop into any cell in the body -- into patient brains, the
university said in a press release.
The iPS cells from healthy donors will be
developed into dopamine-producing brain cells, which are no longer present in
people with Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's disease is a chronic, degenerative
neurological disorder that affects the body's motor system, often causing
shaking and other difficulties in movement. Worldwide, about 10 million people have the
illness, according to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. Currently available
therapies "improve symptoms without slowing or halting the disease
progression," the foundation says.
But the new research aims to actively reverse the
disease.
The clinical test with seven participants aged
between 50 and 69 will begin on Wednesday. The university will monitor the
conditions of the patients for two years after the operation.
The human trial comes after an earlier trial
involving monkeys.
Researchers announced last year that primates
with Parkinson's symptoms regained significant mobility after iPS cells were
inserted into their brains. They also confirmed that the iPS cells had not
transformed into tumors during the two years after the implant. iPS cells are
created by stimulating mature, already specialized, cells back into a juvenile
state -- basically cloning without the need for an embryo.
These can be derived from the patient, making
them less likely to be rejected, while also sidestepping ethical qualms about
taking cells from embryos. The cells can be transformed into a range of
different types of cells, and their use is a key sector of medical research.
In 2014, Riken, a Japanese government-backed
research institution, carried out the world's first surgery to implant iPS
cells to treat a patient with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common
medical condition that can lead to blindness in older people.
Osaka University is also planning a clinical test
to treat heart failure by using a heart muscle cell sheet created from iPS
cells.
In the US, scientists from Duke University said in January they had managed for the first time to grow functioning human muscle from iPS cells in the lab.
Originally published on DAILY MAIL WIRES/AFP
Originally published on DAILY MAIL WIRES/AFP
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