“Latest Stem Cells News”

First and foremost, the new international guidelines on stem cells, with four Italians among the authors, need to be clear, eliminating false illusions, incredible exaggerations, and confusion due to excess emphasis placed on the therapeutic properties of adult stem cells compared to embryonic stem cells.
The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) has decided to impart some order in a field of research which, for various reasons, is growingly involved in issues that have little to do with research.

“Regulation is necessary,” according to the Society, commenting about studies that risk creating exaggerated controversy or omitting risks regarding stem cell therapy. “Over 30 researchers from some of the most prestigious centers in the world signed the guidelines, which were published yesterday in Cell Stem Cell magazine. Michele De Luca, the director of the Center of Regenerative Medicine of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, said, “Guidelines are important because the rules that western countries impose on this type of research are not always observed in developing countries like China, India, Korea. De Luca was one of the Italian authors of the guidelines along with Elena Cattaneo of the University of Milan, Giulio Cossu of the Department of Biotechnology (DIBIT) of San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, and Marina Cavazzana Calvo, of the University of Paris.

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Fat around the waist is commonly seen as a contributing factor to heart attack. Ironically, a company is now testing whether adult stem cells from fat could help prevent long-term damage after a heart attack.

A new medical team is now investigating whether adult stem cells harvested from a person’s own fat, delivered shortly after a heart attack, could prevent some of the cardiac muscle damage that results from blocked arteries.

During a heart attack, blood vessels that deliver blood to the heart muscle are blocked. The lack of oxygen slowly kills the tissue. San Diego-based Cytori Therapeutics has developed a treatment that aims to prevent much of that muscle damage before it starts.

The procedure involves injecting concentrated slurry of adult stem cells and other regenerative cells isolated from the patient’s body directly into the heart’s main artery within 24 hours after an attack.

“Time is muscle. The quicker you get in, the better,” Christopher Calhoun, Cytori’s chief executive officer says. “You can’t do anything about dead tissue, but tissue that’s bruised and damaged-that’s revitalizable. If you can get new blood flow in there, that tissue comes back to life.”

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From wheel chair to walk again

William Orr hasn’t always been in that wheelchair, 24 years ago he survived a tragic accident while riding his bike, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Today, he speaks with high hopes, optimism, and an emotional strength he will one day walk again, thanks to a Bonita Springs doctor.

Bill Orr is not quite walking. But he’s getting close. And his progress may be one of the best stories of 2010 for a whole lot of reasons.

The 50-year-old Aurora man has been a quadriplegic for half his life — since a car hit him while he was riding his bike home on Route 34 in Oswego back in 1986.

In August, Orr underwent what many believe is a first of its kind stem cell procedure in Naples, Fla. — using bone marrow from his hip that doctors hope will rejuvenate the dead spine cells.

The procedure is showing “amazing” promises (…)

The enthusiasm is bigger than Bill Orr, however. Grekos believes stem cell therapy has the potential to revolutionize medicine, but it’s not going to happen through the FDA or pharmaceutical companies. “It’s going to take a grass-roots movement,” he said (…)

Whatch video…

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Aileen Anderson and Brian Cummings led the pre-clinical studies for the neural stem cell treatment

A therapy developed by Aileen Anderson and Brian Cummings of UC Irvine’s Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center in collaboration with researchers at StemCells Inc. will be the basis of the world’s first clinical trial using human neural stem cells to treat spinal cord injury.

Swissmedic, the Swiss regulatory agency for therapeutic products, has authorized a Phase I/II clinical trial for chronic spinal cord injury, cases in which inflammation has stabilized and recovery has reached a plateau.

The trial will utilize StemCells Inc.’s proprietary purified human neural stem cells and will be conducted at the University of Zurich’s University Hospital Balgrist, one of the world’s leading medical centers for spinal cord injury and rehabilitation.

It’s designed to assess both safety and preliminary efficacy in patients with varying degrees of paralysis who are between three and 12 months post-injury at the time of transplantation. Enrollment is expected to begin in early 2011.

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Scientists seeking new ways to fight maladies ranging from arthritis and osteoporosis to broken bones that won’t heal have cleared a formidable hurdle, pinpointing and controlling a key molecular player to keep stem cells in a sort of extended infancy. It’s a step that makes treatment with the cells in the future more likely for patients.

Controlling and delaying development of the cells, known as mesenchymal (pronounced meh-ZINK-a-mill) stem cells, is a long-sought goal for researchers. It’s a necessary step for doctors who would like to expand the number of true skeletal stem cells available for a procedure before the cells start becoming specific types of cells that may – or may not – be needed in a patient with, say, weak bones from osteoporosis, or an old knee injury.

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Dr. Robert Johnson, MD, of Neurosurgical Associates of San Antonio, is presenting at the 5th Annual Stem Cell Summit in New York on February 16, 2010. Dr. Johnson will be presenting his most recent data proving the efficacy of point of care adult stem cell therapies in spine surgery. Point of care technology utilizes the patient’s own cells derived from bone marrow to inhibit bone growth in spinal fusion procedures. Dr. Johnson believes promoting cell therapy utilizing the patient’s own cells will change the future landscape of medicine.

“The use of autologous stem cells is revolutionizing medical care in both the prevention and treatment of spinal disorders,” said Johnson.

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