Earlier therapies for the potentially life-threatening condition, acute kidney failure, have been generally ineffective in treating the disease. But stem cell applications could help improve and protect kidney function in patients as new research reveals.

When kidneys concentrate urine and are unable to remove waste, acute renal failure is the consequence. The outlook for survival in patients is particularly grave when the kidney failure is caused by trauma or surgery.

“Acute renal failure is a common condition that affects up to 7 percent of hospitalized patients,” lead author Dr. Lorenza, Ph.D., of the Fondazione Policlinico in Milano, Italy, told Ivanhoe. “In intensive care units, mortality rate of the disease can be higher than 50 percent of patients.”

Stem cells obtained from full-term umbilical cord blood have characteristics that can stimulate tissue repair and the development of bone and cartilage. New research reveals that these mesenchymal stem cells can help patients recuperate more rapidly and avoid long-term kidney complications associated with tissue damage.

Researchers in Italy used a control solution of intravenous saline or cord blood mesenchymal stem cells to treat mice with acute renal failure. Evaluations were conducted on the mice prior to transplant in order to determine histology and renal function. When blood urea nitrogen, a waste by product that indicates kidney malfunction was measured in the rats, those that received stem cell treatment had much lower levels. A reduction in renal tissue damage was also observed in the mice that were treated with stem cells.

“We observed several renal parameters and saw we have less severe complications,” Dr. Lorenza said. “The tubular renal structure of the animals treated with mesenchymal stem cells is comparable to normal ones [animals].”

Researchers think these preliminary results are promising for future treatment of patients with acute renal failure.

“One of our conclusions is we believe one of the possible clinical treatments for this disease could be cord blood mesenchymal stem cells,” Dr. Lorenza said.

Although further research is still needed, Dr. Lorenza believes that mesenchymal stem cells would offer similar benefits to humans. It would be a safer and more effective treatment for renal failure.

Found at the bulge of hair follicles, epidermal neural crest cells have the characteristics that combine some advantages of embryonic and adult stem cells. They can be expanded in culture, have a high degree of plasticity, and can be isolated at high levels of purity; all characteristics of embryonic stem cells. They are also comparable to adult stem cells because they are ethical unlike embryonic cells and are easily accessible through a minimally invasive procedure. A patient

In an effort to improve Parkinson’s disease symptoms, U.S. medical scientists claim that brain cells derived from neural stem cells can help.

A progressive loss of movement control characterizes the disease. In the study, which was conducted on mice, scientists discovered that the rodent’s brain continued to function normally rather than display the traits of Parkinson’s.

“We are very cautious but to us, it’s an indication that stem cells have promise for Parkinson’s disease,” says Dr. Cesario, neuroscientist at the Medical College of Georgia also the corresponding author of the study.

A neurotoxin was administered to destroy neurons that create dopamine, a key neurotransmitter in regards to movement control. The transplants were performed soon after says Dr. Cesario. A patient receiving treatment early in the disease process would be the most accurate duplication of the experiment in humans.

The researchers noted that the animals that received conventional treatment did not recover while those that received transplants regained control of their movement. Other animals gained partial recovery when given neurotrophic factors, called stem cell factors.

The stem cell factor protected cells in a dose-dependent fashion.

“The more stem cell factor, the better the protection,” Cesario says

Protection was further amplified when the cells were co-cultured with stem cells. Neuro-protection was significantly reduced when an antibody was used to block the stem cell factor.

“This again shows a combination of factors at work. It’s a synergistic effect,” says Cesario.

Even before symptoms start to show, Parkinson’s disease does a lot of damage to dopaminergic cells. The loss of these cells makes it difficult for individuals to move and, once they do move, it is abnormal and they can’t control the movement. Tremors are a common example.

A synthetic dopamine called L-dopa is the normal existing treatment. It tends to minimize symptoms for three to five years. Doses are increased since the drug becomes less effective as the disease progresses. The crescendo dosing can produce more dyskinesia (loss of controlled movement).

The Journal of Neuroscience (ANI) has published the research in its latest issue.

During the course of a person’s life, there is a certain part of the individual’s eye that continually renews itself. Under normal conditions, half the cells are replaced every two months. At unbelievable speeds of 60 to 80 mm per hour, the cells replicate and move across the surface of the eye. The cells are critical for the normal function of the cornea, vision, and comfort. These special cells are part of the corneal epithelium; the outermost layer, or “skin” of your cornea, which is composed of five to six layers of specialized cells.

Stem cells are a unique sub-population of cells. Corneal stem cells specifically, are located in the extreme periphery of the cornea. These cells are also called the limbal stem cells, since this region is called the limbus.

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells and they constitute only 0.5 to 10 per cent of total cell population. They are unique in that they have the capacity for constant renewal and are capable of self-replication throughout life.

The way to limbal stem cell transplantation is paved by the recognition of the importance of limbal stem cell function in the healing response of the cornea.

These important cells of the eye can be damaged by a multitude of diseases. Other causes include drug allergies, poorly fitted contact lenses, chemical or thermal injury, multiple surgeries, and some genetic disorders.

Using cells from the fellow eye of the same person (autograft) or from another individual (allograft), the procedure of limbal transplantation can be performed. These limbal cells can be obtained from an eye that has been donated after death as well. However, powerful immunosuppressive medication would need to be administered during the post operative period if the cells are harvested from another human being. This is to avoid immune rejection so that the limbal stem cells can survive in the patient’s eye.

A method using a very small two to four mm biopsy of healthy limbus is a recent development. The cells are encouraged to multiply and produce a large sheet about two cm in size while they are processed in a laboratory using special culture media. The damaged eye is then given a transplant with this newly grown tissue. The success rate to date has been good. The procedure is called ex vivo limbal stem cell replication.

Pterygium, which is the growth of conjunctive tissue onto the cornea, is another common condition in India given the high ultraviolet light exposure. This condition results in impairment of vision and poor cosmetic function. Limbal stem cells transplantation prevents the re-growth of the tissue and also provides for the localized stem cell deficiency.

Covering the innermost layer of the placenta is the amniotic membrane. Given its antimicrobial potential and ability to enhance wound healing, the amniotic membrane has been important in ocular reconstructive surgery. The membrane is stored after it is harvested from a willing donor during elective caesarian section birth. It is most commonly used in the cases of limbal stem cell deficiency and chemical injury.

Hematopoietic stem cells are part of more general stem cell transplantations. Specific conditions such as Lymphoma, Sickle Cell Anemia, Aplastic Anemia, Leukemia, and severe Immune Cell Deficiency.

Type I diabetes mellitus (pancreatic stem cells) and Parkinson’s disease (brain stem cells) are conditions that the future of stem cells research will focus on.

In conclusion, the transplantation of corneal limbal stem cells is an exciting advance in adult stem cell treatment. Corneal disorders have been poorly managed to date, and these new advances offers new hope to many patients who are visually challenged due to these disorders.

Chronic back pain could become a thing of the past thanks to a patients own stem cells. Treatment will be available in three years said a team of researchers from the University of Manchester.

The soft shock-absorbing discs which separate the vertebrae in the spine are being rebuilt using stem cells. The researchers are in route to perfecting the technique.

Affecting around 12 million in the UK, lower back pain is commonly caused by damage to these intervertebral discs (IVD’s).

The UK economy can potentially save as much as £5 billion a year if a treatment can effectively cure the problem.

Using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from adult bone marrow to regenerate spinal discs, the new therapy was developed by Dr. Stephen.

Bone, fat, muscle, and cartilage are among the many different types of tissues that can be grown from the multipotent MSC class of stem cells.

Dr. Stephen has succeeded in turning MSCs into the cells which make up the gel-like nucleus pulposus (NP) tissue separating the vertebrae.

Full patient trials will immediately follow the pre-clinical trials which are planned for next year.

Dr. Stephen said: “Once we have extracted the bone marrow from the patient and have purified the MSCs, they will be grown in culture and our patented method of differentiation will be applied.

“They will then be embedded within a gel which can be implanted back into the patient.”

There is no possibility of the stem cells being rejected by the immune system since they are taken from the patient’s own body.

Similar to one already used for the treatment of cartilage defects, the gel is based on a natural collagen.

It is implanted using an arthroscope, a thin tube device slipped through a small incision in the back.

“There is no reason why a patient should not return home on the same day as the procedure, or the day after,” said Dr. Stephen.

“Once implanted, the differentiated MSCs would produce a new NP tissue with the same properties as the original and would both treat the underlying cause of the disease and remove the painful symptoms.”

A combination of painkillers, physiotherapy, or surgery, is the current medical treatment for low back pain.

Vertebrae are fused together or tissue is removed to relieve the pain in sever cases.

Since the current techniques do not solve the root cause of the problem, success is limited.

Dries, research and information manager at the charity BackCare said that, “this is a really exciting area of research and although it is still early days, the initial results look very promising.”

Degeneration and aging will be unraveled along with the other mysteries of life thanks to modern medicine. In Manila, a medical breakthrough has arrived with one of the latest developments in stem cell therapy.

Your body is in a constant state of renewal. The changes are occurring in your system even as you read this article. Inside the human body, cells renew, regenerate, and are born every single second.

Scientists have believed for quite some time now that when you die, the cells are not the same as when you were born.

So, why do we age if the natural process of the body is to remake itself? A team of stem cell biologists in Sweden are attempting to answer this question

It is suspected that stem cells age and their supply is exhausted. What happens if the supply is replenished? Enter stem cell therapy.

Our bodies are created from stem cells which are the fundamental building blocks of life. They develop into the different tissues of our body: bone, blood, nerve, muscle, organ, etc, and are formed at conception.

Injured tissue can be repaired by tapping the body’s stem cell reserves. However, the reserve becomes depleted since it is finite. Thus, we succumb to disease and aging as the regenerative power of the body decreases.

Bone marrow, peripheral blood, and fat are all sources of stem cells. The Russians were the first to collect stem cells from non-bone marrow sources. But the process raised ethical issues since the source was aborted fetuses.

Today, since it takes about five days to go through the process of harvesting bone marrow stem cells, a new approach has been tapped that is easier, just as effective, and non-controversial—Autologous Stem Cell Transplant.

This process was introduced in Manila by Dr. Florencio, who is a respected member of the medical community and a reputable senior plastic surgeon, along with an expert in regenerative medicine, Dr. Bill.

100cc’s of peripheral blood and fat are extracted from the body through mini-liposuction. The newly harvested inactive adult stem cells are incubated in stimulating growth factors derived from colostrums, which are the first liquid secretion of milk-producing organic cows in New Zealand.

Once 50 million stem cells are stimulated; the patient is infused with the isolated cells intravenously. Under local anesthesia, the procedure takes place in the operating room of a local hospital and lasts four hours. Three hours to incubate, stimulate, and infuse them back into the patient, with the other hour being occupied by the harvesting process.

The stem cells come from the individual and are returned to him/her, so there are no moral or religious issues involved.
Individuals with Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, and spinal cord injuries all stand to gain with this therapy.

In the case of an 80-year-old who has fewer tremors from Parkinson’s and now goes ballroom dancing, the results have been not only encouraging but astonishing. But it does not end with just one. Health enthusiasts, politicians, and high-profile businessmen that have received the treatment can now think faster and more clearly, their libidos have increased, and they have all gained a more youthful appearance.

A new medical breakthrough is being driven by the dynamic duo of Bill and Florencio. More extensive clinical studies are being planned for the near future.

Foreign patients are now flying to Manila to receive the benefits of the treatment.

“I chose to make Manila my headquarters because of its strategic location, ideal for medical tourism,” said Dr. Bill who was in Manila before for a World Health Organization project. “Filipino doctors are (also) among the finest in the world.” Specific study of stem cell therapy to ease pain and hasten wound-healing was allowed by working with the French Foreign Legion in Angola and Congo. Faster recovery and anti-aging results were observed.

But just how far back does the clock turn for stem cell patients? Right now, the number is five to ten years. But by improving the quality of their lives by making healthy decisions, the average human life expectancy can reach 120 without question.

Many individuals aspire to age gracefully, while others regardless of any health challenge, wish to improve the quality of their lives. But others are intrigued with the challenge of defying time itself.

So in the future, with advances in stem cell therapy, when someone asks the question, “how old are you?”

Your answer just may be, “I am as young as I want to be.”

Scientists from the Institutes of Ophthalmology and Child Health (University College London) and Moorfield’s Eye Hospital in London performed retinal stem cell transplants on blind mice in an attempt to restore their vision. The procedure was successful and reversed their condition. Humans blinded by diabetes or age-related macular degeneration have renewed hope as the results of this study could ultimately lead to sight restoration for those individuals.

The journal Nature has published the complete study.

The mice suffered from a type of eye damage which is a common cause of human blindness – photoreceptor loss.

Preventing or delaying the loss of the cone and rod photoreceptors is the existing focus of treatment for individuals who are losing their eyesight. But for people who have already lost their vision, there is no present medical procedure to restore their sight. The study may help blind individuals regain the cone and rod photoreceptors in the retina – and see again.

Connections to the brain are there even when the photoreceptors are gone, so in the world of cell transplant, the retina is considered to be a good candidate. Some of the parts may be missing, but he wiring is still there. Previous trials were unable to develop photoreceptor cells because the cells were too immature.

This time, the cells were set up so that they would develop into photoreceptors. The transplant cells were still immature, but less so than before in the new study. 3-day-old mice provided the cell samples from the retina. The blind mice were then given the cells via transplant directly into the eyes.

Gradually, the mice began to recover their eyesight. Scientists were able to conclude this because when the mice were exposed to light, their pupils contracted.

The scientists aim to find a way of using adult stem cells in order to see whether this can be done with humans. Another method would be to use cells from a fetus that is 3-6 months old; however, the scientists will not pursue this avenue for ethical reasons.

The scientists say that adult retinas have areas with cells that might be usable. They also added that there will be extensive research before and reliable medical procedure is offered to patients.

With the hope of extending his stay in this world a little longer, Dick has finished a journey of a lifetime; a trip to the opposite end of the world and back.

The 70 year old Dick received treatment with a new procedure in which adult stem cells extracted from his own blood were injected directly into his ailing heart to strengthen it. A heart specialist in Bangkok, Thailand, performed the procedure on September 26th. Prior to Dick’s operation, the Bangkok Heart Institute had only done 80 of these operations.

Accompanied by his son Dusti, the two of them stayed in Bangkok for almost four weeks as Dick underwent and recovered from the process.

Gaining strength and in good spirits, Dick returned home on October 10th. He is hoping the operation will give him more energy and extend his life by rejuvenating his heart.

“Things weren’t going well,” says Dick.

He still loves to go inline skating, play golf, and is a life long athlete. But as a child, he was afflicted with rheumatic fever twice. His heart was weakened, and after getting two artificial valves and then a pacemaker during operations in recent years, he suffered a stroke this spring on a golf course in Florida. Dick’s heart was only functioning at about 11 percent of its total capacity by late summer.

“For the last year or so my dad’s been talking about having the stem cell procedure done,” Dusti said. “He had read articles and was fascinated with it. Finally we were to the point where his cardiologist in Springfield said we had done all we can. My dad had had two mechanical valves and a pacemaker put in. Things weren’t going well at all.”

Three out of the four Bangkok doctors that Dick asked to perform the procedure on him, refused, due to his age and frailty. There are two types of procedures done – a direct injection where they are injected directly into the heart, or a coronary procedure where stem cells injections are administered directly into the arteries.

Dick was accepted and approved for the direct injection procedure by a Bangkok cardiologist named Dr. Permyos. The next step was making the 30-hour flight to Bangkok on September 15th.

After blood was drawn and the stem cells harvested, the doctors began administering the injections. It was not easy due to a large quantity of scar tissue surrounding his heart from past surgeries.

“Normally they do 10 injections, but mine took 30,” Dick said. “The operation normally takes about 15 minutes, but for me it was over two hours.”

For now, the Watson family is encouraged by Dick’s continued recovery. Just before the surgery he weighed 96 pounds and now he has gained another 15. Three times a week, he goes to physical therapy sessions in Galesburg. He should have a better idea as to how his body is handling the cells injected into his heart in late December, three months after the surgery. According to his doctors, his heart should be working at a about a 21 percent rate at the three month mark – this would be considered a success.

“We were very optimistic,” Dusti said. “Before we went, he felt he was at the point where he was sitting around at his home with his head down, very tired. We felt he was down to a month or two left to live. He was not doing well at all, but we were very optimistic. They told us there was a 10 percent chance of death from the procedure and that there was no guarantee this procedure will work. But they said of the 80 procedures they’d done, it had been effective on 85 percent on them.”

Now, within a days drive all over the Midwest, Dusti is back at his job fixing pipe organs. The third-generation family company, Watson Pipe Organ Sales and Service, was started by his grandfather in 1929. Dick is retired from the company, but Dusti still works on about 95 organs regularly. The normal routine is starting to settle in. Dusti and his wife Julie, along with their two children met up with Dick and his wife Patti for pizza a week ago.

“I think (this procedure) is remarkable,” Dusti said. “There are other methods of harvesting stem cells but when they come from your own blood, the compatibility issues would be great.”
The procedure is the future of cardiac treatment said Dick’s doctors.

“Though stem cell procedures still are not commonly done, people like me will help change it,” Dick said. “I think it will cut way down on heart transplants.”

Dick’s attitude and faith have been helpful with his recovery.

“He has a very strong faith and always had a very positive attitude,” Dusti said. “He knew thousands of people were praying for him and he was so grateful. Every day I’d read the comments people would post on the Web site. I think a strong faith and a positive attitude are paramount. It definitely helped him. I know as he gets stronger he hopes to share his story with people to help them.”

Suffering from critical limb ischemia, a diabetic faced the loss of a lower limb. But a private hospital in Chennai saved the patient by using bone marrow stem cell treatment.

“The 68-year-old woman, hailing from Andhra Pradesh and suffering from critical ischemia, with a very large ulcer at the left calf and foot and advised amputation of the left lower limb, successfully underwent autologous (one’s own) bone marrow stem cell treatment at the vascular department of Chennai’s Vijaya Hospital,” the hospital’s chief vascular surgeon, Dr. Subrammaniyan, said recently.
New blood vessel formation improved circulation to the affected leg and the women’s ulcer healed in 60 days.

A team of doctors assisted Dr. Subrammaniyan as bone marrow was injected into the affected portion of the woman’s calf muscle after it was tapped under general anesthesia. Due to the patients advanced condition, bypass surgery to salvage the limb was ruled out. The 100ml dose of bone marrow was repeated a month later.

Health granulation started covering the previously ischemic portion as the healing process commenced very rapidly said the doctors. Close to 40 per cent of the foot area, 20 per cent of the calf area and 100 per cent of the lateral wound had been covered with skin. The remaining portion healed successfully and was treated with skin grafting.

“The patient is now able to use her left foot,” he said.

Dr. Subrammaniyan claimed that 20 percent of the country’s population would be diabetic by 2015. The treatment alone would cost about INR 50,000 (about $1,100 U.S. dollars) he added.

Patients with lung diseases have hope for new treatments in the future due to an advance in adult stem cell research. Embryonic stem cells have once again been trumped by adult stem cells as the advance shows that they continue to be more ethical and effective. Embryonic cells, on the other hand, have not helped any patients and are only obtained by destroying human embryos.

According to a statement released by the University of Minnesota, for the first time, researchers have been able to coax umbilical cord blood stem cells to differentiate into a type of lung cell.

The cord blood cells differentiated into a type of lung cell called type II alveolar cells. The cells allow air sacs in the lungs to remain open (which allows air to move in and out of the sacs) by secreting surfactant.

Helping to repair the airway after injury is another responsibility the cells have.

“In the future, we may be able to examine cord blood from babies who have lung diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, to do more research to understand how these diseases evolve as well as to develop better medical treatments,” said Dr. David, M.D.

David is the medical director of the Clinical Cell Therapy Lab at the University of Minnesota Medical Center and an assistant professor of lab medicine and pathology.

The discovery is a “step toward developing treatment for various lung diseases” David said.

The journal of Cytotherapy will publish David’s findings in their November 7th, 2006 issue.

Some premature babies are born with underdeveloped lungs and this is because Type II alveolar cells develop late in fetal development. Through a child’s first few years of life, the cells and the air sacs as a whole continue to mature and develop.

The cells could be used as a research aid to enhance our understanding of lung development and disease as the researchers will try to better characterize the cells for the future. Testing for new drugs could also be another potential use for the cells.

David and his team first derived the Multi-Lineage Progenitor Cell from umbilical cord blood during the process of differentiating the lung cells from the cord blood.

This particular stem cell is a precursor cell that can be expanded in culture, then differentiated into different types of tissue representative of all three embryonic lineages, mesoderm, ectoderm, and endoderm.

The MLPC differentiated into the lung cells, an endoderm-type cell, after they were cultured by David and his group in a series of experiments. They were able to find cells that exhibited key markers present in type II alveolar cells by testing them using various methods.