New Way to Replace Parkinson’s Disease Cells
December 5th, 2007 Posted by: Dr. Cox
(Ivanhoe Newswire) â Parkinsonâs disease (PD) patients may have a new treatment on the way.
The disease is caused by the progressive degeneration of dopamine (DA) cells in the brain. Replacing these cells is considered a promising therapy â transplanting human fetal mesencephalic tissue has shown good results in trials but with a limited availability of the tissue, there needs to be other ways to get the cells.
Now Swedish researchers have identified a new source for DA cells that worked well when they transplanted them into mice with a PD-like disease.
DA cells were derived from midbrain (VM) neural stem cells/progenitors by culturing and engineering them. This generated 10 times more DA cells than the conventional treatment.
The study found the cells started substantial cellular and functional recovery when they were transplanted into mice with PD-like disease. And results show the mice did not develop tumors â a potential risk that has precluded the development of embryonic stem cells as a source of DA cells. The authors say the new cells may be an efficient and safe way to treat Parkinsonâs patients.
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SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Investigation, published online Dec. 3, 2007