“Latest Stem Cells News”

DaVinci Biosciences LLC, of Costa Mesa, CA, announced today the presentation of their safety and feasibility study demonstrating the administration of autologous bone marrow derived stem cells for the treatment of acute and chronic spinal cord injury at Neuroscience 2009, Society for Neuroscience’s 39th Annual Meeting, to be held at McCormick Convention Center in Chicago, IL. Rafael Gonzalez, Ph.D., Director of Research and Development for DaVinci Biosciences LLC will present the work during the conference on October 20, 2009 and be available to answer questions regarding the study, following his presentation.

“We are excited to share the findings of this study in such a public forum. This study successfully demonstrates not only the safety and feasibility of using autologous adult stem cells for treating spinal cord injuries, but also that the clinical procedure for delivering these cells is safe as well,” said Dr. Gonzalez.

The abstract highlights data from 8 patients that underwent the treatment which used stem cells harvested from the patients’ own bone marrow to side step any immune rejection response, and features the documented evaluations from a 2 year post surgical follow up period. Furthermore, it illustrates new data obtained from 46 patients that participated in the study using stem cells harvested from the patients’ own bone marrow. Magnetic resonance imaging data of the spinal cord, obtained from those who were treated, shows morphological changes within the damaged areas. In addition, this study documents the improved function of bladder control, ASIA motor scoring and Barthel scoring.

“Although this study was successful, we will build upon the results that we have achieved and the methods we have developed to progress into a larger clinical program. Responsibly, but timely developing ways to improve the quality of life for those affected with injuries or diseases, such as spinal cord injury, is the core of our mission and we are optimistic about the opportunity of conducting future studies in the US,” said Dr. Gonzalez.

from http://www.dvbiosciences.com/

Transplanting stem cells from one’s own bone marrow (autologous stem cell transplants) improves the symptoms of muscular sclerosis (MS), and in some cases the neurological disease actually regressed. These are the encouraging results obtained from a small study performed on 21 remittent MS patients by a group from the Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago and published in Lancet Neurology. “All of the patients,” said the neurologists, “witnessed an improvement in their conditions three years after the stem cell transplants were performed. Of these, 81pct benefited from visible progress, measured in terms of the scale of their disability.”

With these “encouraging” results, the researchers decided to perform another study involving more patients, and compared their results with traditional treatments. The experiment involved the removal and freezing of bone marrow after treating the marrow with drugs to remove the lymphocytes of the immune system which are responsible for attacking nerve system fibers in MS patients.

Transplanting stem cells from one’s own bone marrow (autologous stem cell transplants) improves the symptoms of muscular sclerosis (MS), and in some cases the neurological disease actually regressed. These are the encouraging results obtained from a small study performed on 21 remittent MS patients by a group from the Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago and published in Lancet Neurology. “All of the patients,” said the neurologists, “witnessed an improvement in their conditions three years after the stem cell transplants were performed. Of these, 81pct benefited from visible progress, measured in terms of the scale of their disability.”