American University of Beirut scientists testing stem cell therapy

Beirut - Scientists at the American
University of Beirut (AUB) began a pioneering clinical trial earlier
this month to test bone-marrow stem-cell therapy on up to six
individuals suffering from advanced Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a
neurological disease with potentially debilitating effects.

The
trial is among the first being carried out in the world, as part of an
international task force created about a year ago, following successful
animal trials. AUB professor and neuroscientist Bassem Yamout, who is
also a member of the European Charcot Foundation Expert Group on the
use of human stem cells for treatment of Multiple Sclerosis, is leading
the AUB trial which was launched on October 3. AUB assistant dean for
research Ali Bazarbachi and his team will be collaborating with Yamout
on this experiment.

“We think this is the future of treatment in neurology,” said
Yamout. “For the past 100 years, we have been trying to prevent or
improve neurological diseases, but for the first time, we hope to
repair the damage already done.”

Through their animal trials, scientists have discovered that stem
cells could potentially reverse the damage caused by neurological
diseases. With the new clinical trials, researchers are now hoping to
recreate the same results in human beings. Basically, each adult human
body retains, in certain organs, original embryonic cells, known as
stem cells, which have the potential to differentiate into any adult
cell type.

In the multiple-sclerosis clinical trial, scientists at AUB
extracted stem cells from an MS patient’s bone marrow, grew them in the
lab for four weeks, then re-injected 100 million of these stem cells in
the patient’s cerebrospinal fluid at two points: the lower back and
neck. Since the cerebrospinal fluid bathes the spinal cord and brain
(which constitute the central nervous system), the injected stem cells
can reach areas damaged by the disease.

It is hoped that once those stem cells settle in the damaged parts
of the central nervous system, they will differentiate into new neural
cells, replacing dysfunctional ones, thus reversing any disability
caused by the disease. Moreover, scientists also expect that these new
neural cells will also secrete substances that will aid in repair.

“We are very hopeful about the results and I personally think that
this experiment which is among the first in the world in MS patients
will open up a whole new avenue of research in the field of MS
therapeutics,” said Yamout, following the one-hour operation in which
the AUB human trial was initiated in a 36-year-old male who has been
suffering from multiple sclerosis since 1996 and has been
wheelchair-bound since early 2006. “The patient did very well with no
complications and was discharged the following day,” Yamout added.

Patients participating in the trial will be monitored over a 12-month period, allowing scientists to detect any improvement.

If successful, this trial would have tremendous applications in
other neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, stroke, Parkinson’s
and physical trauma to the spinal cord. In other words, people like
Christopher Reeves, known to many as Superman, would have had the
chance to be cured of his complete paralysis following his equestrian
accident.

Up until now, very few MS patients around the world have been
injected with stem cells. The AUB team, which helped set up the
protocol needed for the human trials, is initiating one of the first
scientifically based stem-cell therapeutic trials involving MS patients
in the world.

American University of Beirut

American University of Beirut Medical Center

Source: Daily Star
Via: Yalibnan

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