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STEM CELLS & STROKES
STEM CELLS & STROKES
A team of Glasgow doctors is set to use millions of stem cells generated from a single human foetus to launch the world’s first clinical trial aimed at helping people left disabled by strokes.The treatment involves injecting neural stem cells into patients’ brains to repair areas damaged by stroke and allow the patient to regain the corresponding mental and physical functions. Approval was finally granted by Britain’s Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC) following months of delay.
The treatment has been developed by British biotech firm ReNeuron, which received the go-ahead from Britain’s main drugs watchdog, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, in January last year but required backing from the GTAC to start human trials.
The clinical study will be conducted at the Institute of Neurological Sciences in Glasgow’s Southern General hospital. The team, led by consultant neurologist Professor Keith Muir, of Glasgow University, is expected to begin recruiting volunteers as early as April.
Candidates must by males aged over 60, who have suffered an ischemic stroke – caused by a blockage of blood to the brain – in the past six to 24 months. “We’re very pleased to be in a position to begin the trial,” said Mr Muir.
There will be 12 volunteers, divided into groups of three and monitored over two years. Each group will be treated using doses of stem-cells, from around two million in the low-dose group up to 20 million at the high-dose end. While that may sound like a lot, said ReNueron’s chief scientific officer, John Sinden, it was “nothing” compared to the billions of brain cells lost in a stroke. He said “It’s really only at the higher dose that we expect to see the effects. We are starting at a very safe dose, and working up to a level where we expect to see significant changes that would represent improvements for the patients.”
Stem cells – master cells that can develop into specialised tissue – are being examined around the world as a potential treatment for everything from Parkinson’s disease to spinal cord injuries. However, this is the first time the technology has been applied to strokes, which affect between 12,500 and 15,000 people in Scotland every year.
Written by Dr Martin Harris, Doctor and Mohel for Jewish Circumcision Clinic in London Bris Mila Brit Milah.
www.circumcisionlondon.co.uk
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