Stem Cell transplant improves stroke damage

This story taken from India's 'The Hindu' news service, reporting on reseach presented at the recent meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in San Diego, caught my eye over the weekend. One common effect of heart disease is a stroke, and now researches have discovered that adult stem cells could be used to significantly enhance recovery. At present only animal testing has been undrtaken, but the results are positive.

The full story taken from 'The Hindu' is reprinted below:

There is now a hope for patients with a neurological damage like stroke.

According to a new research a single dose of adult donor stem cells given to animals that have neurological damage similar to that experienced by adults with a stroke or newborns with cerebral palsy can significantly enhance recovery from these types of injuries.

Using a commonly utilised animal model for stroke, researchers administered a dose of 200,000-400,000 human stem cells into brains of animals that had experienced significant loss of mobility and other functions. The stemcells used in the study were a recently discovered type, referred to as multipotent adult progenitor cells, or MAPCs.

Treated animals experienced at least 25 per cent greater improvement in motor and neurological performance than controls, Dr Cesario V. Borlongan, neuroscientist at Medical College of Georgia and the Veterans Affairs Medical Centre in Augusta said.

The findings were presented April 7 at the 58th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in San Diego.

In humans, the findings hopefully will translate to incremental but important recovery advances, Dr David Hess, adult stroke specialist, chair of the MCG Department of Neurology and a study co-author said.

"The single largest cause of disability among adults in the US is stroke," said Dr Hess. "It's a huge public health problem in the world." He says he hopes one day stem cell therapy, along with aggressive physical therapy possibly can work synergistically to reduce that disability.