“Latest Stem Cells News”

A new cornea may be the only way to prevent a patient going blind – but there is a shortage of donated corneas and the queue for transplantation is long. Scientists at the Sahlgrenska Academy have for the first time successfully cultivated stem cells on human corneas, which may in the long term remove the need for donators.

Approximately 500 corneal transplantations are carried out each year in Sweden, and about 100,000 in the world. The damaged and cloudy cornea that is turning the patient blind is replaced with a healthy, transparent one. But the procedure requires a donated cornea, and there is a severe shortage of donated material. This is particularly the case throughout the world, where religious or political views often hinder the use of donated material.

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Health Counselor Board, Javier Alvarez Guisasola, launched on Wednesday a clinical trial coordinated by Professor Margarita Calonge, IOBA’s on cell therapy applied to treat corneal blindness.
This study was coordinated by the IOBA and IBGM to demonstrate the long-term effectiveness of the epithelial stem cell transplantation of the cornea, previously cultivated to restore corneal blindness. Stem cells come from a healthy eye of the patient or family support.

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Cultured stem cells from eyes helped improve the sight of eight patients with Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency, a painful, blinding disease, British doctors said.

The patients’ own corneal cells were cultured and used to reduce corneal cloudiness from the disease, The North East England Stem Cell Institute, Newcastle, England, reported in a release Thursday.

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Limbus stem cell transplants (a layer of adult stem cells surrounding the cornea responsible for restoring corneal epithelium naturally during life) rebuild the ocular surface when damaged due to chemical and physical agents (like lime). They also repair “injuries” due to improper use of contact lenses. Vincenzo Sarnicola, a cornea and stem cell transplant expert, leading ocular surface specialist in Grosseto, Professor of Ocular Surface Surgery at the University of Siena, and President of the Italian Stem Cell and Ocular Surface Society (SICSSO) explained, “When the ocular surface loses its stem cells it is unable to defend itself and make repairs, it then loses transparency and develops soars, which become infected and result in anatomical loss. Restoring the deficient surface with limbus stem cell transplants means giving hope to these eyes and to those patients who are in serious condition often due to work related accidents.

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From stem cells comes a ray of light for those who lives in the dark. A new surgical operation anti-blindness is under examimation by a team of Scottish scientists from Edinburgh and Glasgow, ready to start a study about using adult stem cells on 20 patients suffering of cornea blindness: this disease plague over than 80% of the senior citizens.

“We can note 2 or 3 new cases of cornea blindness every month; it’s a big problem” says Bal Dhillow from Princess Alexandra Eye Pavillon of Edinburgh.

The experimental technique contemplate using of adult stem cells taken from a corpse, which will be raised and then transplanted on the patient’s cornea’s surface. Dhillow says he’s proud to be part of the project.

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In a major achievement, the scientists have managed to get a patent for growing stem cells of the cornea. The cells will be grown on a synthetic material, called Mebiol Gel, which will be used in the process of transplant.

For a long time scientists across the world have been trying to get the patent. The declaration was made by the researchers at Sankara Nethralaya and Nichi-In Biosciences Sankara Nethralaya and Nichi-In Biosciences on Friday.

The new procedures have been devised and patented by these two institutes. A synthetic substance was used by the researchers for growing the corneal limbal stem cells in order to reduce the chances of viral infections. Moreover, biological materials have a greater chance of rejection.

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