Japanese scientists have reported that stem cell treatment helped improve the motor function of two of 4 patients with spinal cord injury, in the first clinical study (on humans) of its kind.
There is currently no effective treatment for paralysis caused by advanced spinal cord injuries, which affects more than 150,000 patients in Japan alone, with 5,000 new cases annually registered.
Researchers at the University of Qiu in Tokyo are studying using the most induced multi -capacity cells (IPS) by stimulating mature cells.
Then these cells can be stimulated to ripen to turn into different types of cells. Researchers in Qi use cells derived from multi -capacity -capacity cells induced by the nervous stem.
The university announced that the degree of the kinetic function of two patients was improved after the transplant of more than two million cells derived from the multi -capacity cells induced in the spinal cord.
No serious side effects were monitored in the four cases after a year of monitoring, according to the university.
The main goal of the research was to study the safety of cell transplantation.
Standing without help
The Japanese Broadcasting and Television Corporation (NHK) reported that one of the patients was an elderly man suffering from an accident.
She explained that he was able to stand without help, and began to walk.
“We have been able to achieve results in the first spinal cord treatment in the world using the multi -capacity -captured stem cells,” the authority quoted a professor at Qiyu University and head of the Hidhekki Occano research team.
Okano added that the team hopes to move to a clinical trial that represents a step towards providing treatment for patients.
The university obtained government approval of its initial studies in 2019, and conducted the first surgery in 2022.
Details of patients remained secret, but the team focuses on people who were injured before the operation between 14 and 28 days.