Washington – United States researchers said they have successfully reversed the long-term debilitating effects in some of the stroke patients by injecting stem cells directly into their brains.
Prof. Gary Steinberg, the Lead Author and Chairman of Neurosurgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said on Monday in Washington that it was reversed during an “unprecedented” clinical trial.
“This wasn’t just, they couldn’t move their thumb, and now they can.
“Patients who were in wheelchairs are walking now,” said Steinberg, who led the 18-patient trial and conducted 12 of the procedures himself,’’ he said.
Steinberg said the small study, published in the U.S. journal Stroke, was designed primarily to test the procedure’s safety, but the promising results set the stage for an expanded trial now getting underway.
He explained that the therapy involved drilling a small hole into the patients’ skulls to allow for the injection of stem cells, accomplished with a syringe, into a number of spots at the periphery of the stroke-damaged area.
The Neurosurgeon said further that the method varied from patient to patient.
“The stem cells, called SB623, are derived from the bone marrow of adult donors and modified to beneficially alter the cells’ ability to restore neurologic function.
“The patients, whose average age was 61, remained conscious under light anaesthesia throughout the procedure, and the next day they all went home,’’ he said.
Steinberg said all the patients had suffered their first and only stroke between six months and three years before receiving the injections.
He said in each case, the stroke had taken place beneath the brain’s outermost layer, or cortex, and had severely affected motor function.
“For example, some patients couldn’t walk and others couldn’t move their arm.
Steinberg said the results showed that all the patients showed significant recovery by a number of measures within a month’s time.
“They continued improving for several months afterward, sustaining these improvements at six and 12 months after surgery.
He said no relevant blood abnormalities were observed.
“Some patients experienced transient nausea and vomiting, and 78 per cent had temporary headaches related to the transplant procedure.
“Patients improved by several standard measures, and their improvement was not only statistically significant, but clinically meaningful,” he said.
Steinberg said interestingly, the study showed that the implanted stem cells begin to disappear about one month after the procedure and are gone by two months.
“That meant something secreted by these cells during their early postoperative presence near the stroke site stimulates lasting regeneration or reactivation of nearby nervous tissue.
“The study also revealed that the stroke patients’ postoperative improvement was independent of their age or their condition’s severity at the onset of the trial,’’ he said.
The lead author noted that the older people tend not to respond to treatment as well, but noted that a 70-year-old recovered substantially.
Steinberg said they are also calling for new thinking regarding the permanence of brain damage.
“The notion was that once the brain is injured, it doesn’t recover you’re stuck with it.
“But if we can figure out how to jump-start these damaged brain circuits, we can change the whole effect,’’ he said. (Xinhua/NAN)
