“Latest Stem Cells News”

Sir Martin Evans

Stem cells could aid in treating muscular sclerosis. Animal experiments have demonstrated that it is possible to stop the aggressive, chronic inflammatory response against the myelin sheath that covers nerve cells, whose destruction leads to the devastating effects of the disease, said Giancarlo Comi, the head of the Experimental Neurology Institute of the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. A three-day meeting, which began in Stresa, on the most recent progress regarding stem cells was opened by Nobel Prize winner Martin Evans and also included some of the most important experts on the subject in the country.

Comi specified that these cells are able to act against multiple sclerosis in two ways: not only are they able to stop inflammation, but they are also aggregate in the locations in which they are acting, keeping the entire area under control.

“It was thought that stem cells were only able to repair tissues, but it has been observed that they also act on the immune system.” The neurologist also cited work by Milan researcher Gianvito Martino, which “has completed the preliminary phase and is now ready for the first clinical study on the applications of stem cells against multiple sclerosis. A study will also be done to establish the doses that can guarantee successful treatment without causing any damage on patients with serious spinal injuries. This study will provide us with information on efficiency, which will be the focus of another study that will begin at the end of the year.”

The conference in Stresa gathered the top researchers in Italy in the stem cell field, with experts on neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, assisted reproduction, leukemia, and lymphoma.

A team of John Hopkins University undergraduates say they have found a way to quickly and easily embed a person’s stem cells into surgical thread, a procedure they believe may help improve healing and prevent re-injury.
The 10 biomedical engineering students developed the procedure as part of a contest sponsored by a medical technology company trying to patent the concept as a way to help patients recover from major orthopedic injuries, such as ruptured ligaments and tendons.

“Using sutures that carry stems cells to the injury site would not change the way surgeons repair the injury,” student team leader Matt Rubashkin, who will be a senior in the fall, said in a university news release. “But we believe the stem cells will significantly speed up and improve the healing process. And because the stem cells will come from the patient, there should be no rejection problems.”

In concept, stem cells from bone marrow drawn from a patient’s hip would be quickly woven into surgical thread using the students’ machine. The stem cell thread would then be used, as in conventional surgery, to stitch the ruptured tendon or other injury. The stem cells should eventually evolve into tendon or cartilage that blends into their setting while releasing growth factor proteins that hasten healing and reduce inflammation along the way.

The students, with help from orthopedists and sponsor, Bioactive Surgical Inc. of Maryland, are testing the machine and procedure on animals. Early test results show the stem cells remaining intact and attached to the sutures.
“The students exceeded all expectations. They have probably cut at least a year off of the development time of this technology, and they are definitely advancing the science in this emerging area,” the inventor of the technology, Dr. Lew Schon, an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine,said in the news release.

According to the students’ research, about 46,000 people in the United States undergo Achilles tendon repair surgery every year. The procedure and post-surgical treatment cost about $40,000, and recovery takes up to a year.
The Baltimore students have also applied for grants to study how the embedded surgical thread could be used in other orthopedic surgeries or even cardiology and obstetrics.

from ajc

Fernandez Vina

Today is a lucky day for us as we get an up close and personal look at Dr. Roberto Fernandez Vina, the chairman of the Repair Stem Cell Institute’s Science Advisory Board, and one of the world’s most renowned stem cell research pioneers using the patient’s own Adult Stem Cells.  We also get a in depth look at his stem cell therapy for Multiple Sclerosis.

Dr. Fernandez Vina recently presented the results of some of his stem cell research for Diabetes Type 2 and COPD at the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) annual meeting a couple of weeks ago in Barcelona.

However, Dr. Fernandez Vina usually doesn’t get the credit he deserves as his stem cell treatment takes place far away in Argentina (and now El Salvador).

Stem Cell Treatment by Dr. Fernandez Vina – Up close

Dan Alvarez, also known as “the Day Trading Tutor,”  recently took his mother to Argentina for Dr. Fernandez Vina’s stem cell treatment to help his mother’s Multiple Sclerosis and documented the whole story in his Day Trading Blog.

Here is what Dan had to say about the stem cell treatment for his mother using Adult Stem Cells:

we were picked up late in the afternoon and taken to the hospital for preparation for the treatment on the following day. I was very impressed by the quality of the hospital and its cleanliness. The nurses and staff were great; always very helpful and supportive. The room was equipped with cable TV with plenty of channels (as well as funky Argentinian shows).

On that same day, we met Doctor Fernandez Vina and his assistant, Doctor Janina.

All I can say is that they were wonderful, with a genuine concern for their patients and their well-being. My mom really felt at ease with them and that helped a lot with her nervousness (she’s a bit of a sissy when it comes to doctors…He…He!).

During the next morning, bone marrow was extracted from my mom’s hip bone under general anesthesia. From this marrow the stem cells were later extracted and a few hours after that, Doctor Fernandez Vina implanted the cells through one of my mom’s leg arteries. The implant procedure took less than an hour.

My mom had to spend the day after the procedure in the hospital under medical supervision and one day on bed rest at the hotel.

The Results of the Stem Cell Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis

And what happened after the stem cell therapy for Multiple Sclerosis? Did it help improve her quality of life?

Dan describes the effects of the Adult Stem Cells:

After the Stem Cell Treatment

It’s been around two weeks since my mom had her treatment; so it’s too soon for the stem cells to complete their repair function, but we’re already seeing some dramatic changes. The MS had affected mainly my mom’s balance and coordination. She could not really walk without a cane anymore and constantly swerved to the sides, bumping against objects in her path if unassisted. To my amazement (and that of all our other family members), she was rather quick on her feet yesterday (the day prior to this post) when we paid her a visit. She wasn’t swerving to the sides and didn’t use a cane at all while we were with her.

It’s a truly amazing change given her previous condition. I can’t wait to see what other changes lie in store for her and thank God for all the blessings bestowed upon her so far.

For those of you who have family members suffering from multiple sclerosis, diabetes, or any other condition for which the traditional medical community doesn’t have a cure and probably no financial interest to find one, I strongly suggest that you contact the Fundacion Fernandez Vina in Argentina. I’ll be more than happy to discuss my experiences and suggestions with you in more detail, so feel free to contact me as well.

original post by Don Margolis

Doctors with the University of Louisville and officials with Jewish Hospital Friday introduced the recipient of one of the world’s first adult cardiac stem cell infusion to treat congestive heart failure.

Michael Jones, 66, had his own cardiac stem cells injected directly into heart scar tissue, using a cardiac catheterization procedure, according to a news release.

Dr. Mark Slaughter, chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Louisville and director of the Heart Transplant and Mechanical Assist Device Program at Jewish Hospital, performed coronary artery bypass surgery on Jones on March 23, according to the release.

Jones had congestive heart failure and permanent scarring of the heart resulting from multiple blocked arteries.
The cardiac stem cells injected into the scar tissue were removed from a portion of the upper chamber of Jones’ heart.

The tissue was sent to Harvard University and Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, where the cardiac stem cells were grown.

The infusion was performed at Jewish Hospital by Dr. Sohail Ikram, a University of Louisville professor of medicine and director and chief of invasive and interventional cardiology at Jewish Hospital.

Leader of the study was Dr. Roberto Bolli, Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Institute Distinguished Chair in Cardiology and director of the University of Louisville’s Institute for Molecular Cardiology.
In the release, Bolli said the intent of the injection is to help the heart regenerate tissue and function.
The university and Jewish Hospital continue to enroll patients in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved clinical trial.

from Business First

Frank LaFerla, left, Mathew Blurton-Jones and colleagues found that neural stem cells could be a potential treatment for advanced Alzheimer's disease

UC Irvine scientists have shown for the first time that neural stem cells can rescue memory in mice with advanced Alzheimer’s disease, raising hopes of a potential treatment for the leading cause of elderly dementia that afflicts 5.3 million people in the U.S.

Mice genetically engineered to have Alzheimer’s performed markedly better on memory tests a month after mouse neural stem cells were injected into their brains. The stem cells secreted a protein that created more neural connections, improving cognitive function.

“Essentially, the cells were producing fertilizer for the brain,” said Frank LaFerla, director of UCI’s Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, or UCI MIND, and co-author of the study, which appears online the week of July 20 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Lead author Mathew Blurton-Jones, LaFerla and colleagues worked with older mice predisposed to develop brains lesions called plaques and tangles that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s.

To learn how the stem cells worked, the scientists examined the mouse brains. To their surprise, they discovered that just 6 percent of the stem cells had turned into neurons. (The majority became the other two main types of brain cells, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.) The stem cells didn’t improve cognition by becoming new neurons, nor did they act by reducing the number of plaques and tangles.

Rather, the stem cells were found to have secreted a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF. This caused existing tissue to sprout new neurites, strengthening and increasing the number of connections between neurons. When the team selectively reduced BDNF from the stem cells, the benefit was lost, providing strong evidence that BDNF is critical to the effect of stem cells on memory and neuronal function.

“If you look at Alzheimer’s, it’s not the plaques and tangles that correlate best with dementia; it’s the loss of synapses – connections between neurons,” Blurton-Jones said. “The neural stem cells were helping the brain form new synapses and nursing the injured neurons back to health.”

Diseased mice injected directly with BDNF also improved cognitively but not as much as with the neural stem cells, which provided a more long-term and consistent supply of the protein.

“This gives us a lot of hope that stem cells or a product from them, such as BDNF, will be a useful treatment for Alzheimer’s,” LaFerla said.

In April, LaFerla, Blurton-Jones and colleagues were awarded $3.6 million by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine toward the development of an Alzheimer’s therapy involving human neural stem cells.

In addition to LaFerla and Blurton-Jones, Masashi Kitazawa, Hilda Martinez-Coria, Nicholas Castello, Tritia Yamasaki, Wayne Poon and Kim Green of UCI worked on the study, along with Franz-Josef Muller and Jeanne Loring of the Scripps Research Institute. Funding for the study was provided by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

from UC Irvine

A young 16 year old boy with Type 2 Spinal Muscular Atrophy has returned home with noticeable improvements after receiving Adult stem cell research in China. Kyle Knopes, from Janesville, Wisconsin says his quality of life has improved tremendously after returning from China where he received adult stem cells taken from cord blood.

What is Spinal Muscular Atrophy?

Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a hereditary disease in which the person is missing a gene which is responsible for the production of the protein for motor neurons. Without this protein, the motor neuron in the spinal cord wither and die.

Before the Stem Cell Treatment in China

• Couldn’t open his fist
• Couldn’t roll over on his side by himself
• All muscles were very weak, could only hold empty cups

After the Stem Cell Therapy Using Adult Stem Cells

• Can open his fist and stretch his fingers by himself
• Can roll from his back onto his side all by himself
• Can now carry some weight, such as a bottle of apple juice rather than just empty cups
• Reports improved strength in all his muscles
• Daily tasks such as eating and writing are easier

Adult Stem Cells “Definitely” and “Absolutely” Worth It

When asked if the trip half way around the world from Wisconsin to China was worth it, Kyle replied “Definitely” and his mother chimed in with “Absolutely.”

From the stem cell article:

Kyle and Penny said they’re happy to have gone through all the fundraising and planning for the treatment that cost more than $30,000, plus expenses.

They’d even consider a second trip in a few years for more injections.

They met families from across the United States, Australia, United Arab Emirates, England and elsewhere during their stay.

“It was like one big family,” Kyle said.

Another Spinal Muscular Atrophy Patient Helped By Stem Cell Research

Coincidentally, or probably not so coincidentally, Kyle followed in the footsteps of another Janesville resident with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Brandon Meinke.

This was a great story because a reporter from the local TV station followed Brandon before and after the stem cell treatment, documenting the improvements.

Brandon received stem cell treatment for his SMA and was able to walk again after the adult stem cells. You can see more on his stem cell therapy here.

original post by Don Margolis