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The Digest of Anti-Aging and Stem Cell Research
June 2010 |
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Welcome to the second issue of Medicine for a New Era, our monthly digest of anti-aging and stem cell research. The response to our first issue was positive, and we consider your comments and feedback as we plan future issues. If you have colleagues or friends who might be interested in this information, use the Forward email link at the bottom of the page to send the newsletter to them. I look forward to providing you with more information useful for your goal of living the best, most healthy life you can.
Sincerely,
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Neuron cells | New Discoveries in How Stem Cell Therapies Work
Researchers at the University of California Irvine's Susan & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center have discovered how stem cells "know" how to find injured tissue, which can help in the development of stem cell therapies for central nervous system diseases (like multiple sclerosis) that are characterized by chronic inflammation.
Researchers Tom Lane and Kevin Carbajal investigated how stem cells are directed to the injury location by our body's own response to inflammation--a protein that helps mobilize white blood cells to the injury. These proteins guided injected stem cells to the right spot; along the way, the stem cells started to transform into the specific cells that could repair the affected area. Once they arrived at their location, the stem cells completed the transformation that allows them to repair tissue. These findings can help scientists develop even more precise stem cell therapies that target specific tissue damage areas.
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| California Invests in Stem Cell Possibilities
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) announced that it distributed $23 million in Basic Biology grant awards designed to answer questions about how stem cells work in the body. On its website, CIRM president Alan Trounson explains, "Understanding the fundamental questions in stem cell biology and the development of innovative approaches to their differentiation is essential for realizing that goal and bringing new stem cell therapies to patients." CIRM funded 16 research projects; one team of scientists from the Palo Alto Institute, for example, will identify the ideal conditions under which stem cell therapy can repair brain injuries or even slow down the aging process in the brain.
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Rendering of human heart | Great Britain: Stem Cells for Damaged Hearts
Scientists at the Bristol Heart Institute announced in the journal Circulation that they had successfully isolated stem cells from veins removed during heart bypass surgery. Funded by the British Heart Foundation, the study found that these extracted stem cells helped stimulate the growth of new blood vessels. Researchers used donated veins to harvest stem cells; in tests with mice, the stem cells were able to stimulate new blood vessels to grow in injured leg muscles. Researchers predict that extracting stem cells in this way might someday help bypass patients receive treatment that would help their damaged hearts grow new blood vessels.
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| Germany: Diabetes Treatment
Researchers in Germany report ongoing success in treating diabetes with stem cell therapies. Doctors have injected patients' own adult stem cells Follow up statistics from 50 diabetes patients completed in July 2009 show that more than 50% experienced improvements after stem cell therapy. 40% of the patients were insulin dependent (type 1) and 60% were non-insulin dependent (type 2). Overall, improvements reported included more stable blood glucose levels, lower fasting blood glucose levels, decreased leg pain, lower blood pressure and the elimination of hypoglycemic episodes.
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What Are Adult Stem Cells?
Scientists use two different kinds of stem cells in medical research or treatment: embryonic and adult stem cells. In the late 1990s, scientists discovered a way to derive stem cells from human embryos and grow these cells in the laboratory. That discovery led to a host of ethical decision-making conversations within the scientific community as well as outside of it, conversations that quickly grew heated.
Adult stem cells, in contrast, are cells that are found among human tissue and organs that help them maintain and repair themselves; scientists are still trying to determine how adult stem cells originated. These stem cells have been identified in brain tissue, bone marrow, blood, skin, teeth, and other parts of the body. Because there are typically small numbers of them in each tissue, scientists are trying to find ways to grow them so they can be used to treat disease and injury. Stem cells from bone marrow, for example, have been used in transplants for more than 40 years.
Adult stem cells can divide and form the specialized cells of tissue. Laboratory experiments have also shown that some of those adult stem cells can also differentiate (transform into a specific cell type) into other kinds of cells. Certain stem cells can be "reprogrammed" using genetic modification. In fact, they can be reprogrammed to be more like embryonic stem cells. When that happens, they are called "induced pluripotent stem cells" (iPSCs), and in lab experiments they are being used in drug development. Perhaps the most exciting proposed use is in replacing diseased or damaged cells and tissue to treat diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, MS, diabetes, heart disease, and others in a new field of treatment called regenerative medicine.
Next month: The future of stem cells in medicine |
 Promising News in Multiple Sclerosis Treatment
Frenchay Hospital (U.K.) researchers have found "encouraging" results in a six-month clinical trial that injected multiple sclerosis patients with their own stem cells, harvested from bone marrow.
The treatment increased patients' nerve function by up to twenty percent. Although the team of researchers was cautious in its reporting, observers note that the trials are an important first step toward more large-scale studies.
Researchers harvested stem cells from the bone marrow of participating patients, then injected them into the patient's bloodstream. None of the patients reported any difficulties or complications from the procedure. It was relatively pain-free and had no side effects.
Stem cell therapy is a promising treatment for MS. Scientists speculate that MS is actually an autoimmune disorder: the patient's immune system attacks healthy tissue, causing a variety of symptoms such as blurred vision, loss of balance, tremors, paralysis, and other disorders of the central nervous system. The stem cells may have two separate effects. They may help to reduce and prevent inflammation, and they may also help to repair areas of damage in the brain and spinal cord.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects more than 2.5 million people worldwide, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (U.S.). It tends to affect more women than men and usually first appears in adults between the ages of 20 and 40. White people are about twice as likely as other races to develop MS; some populations, such as native Americans, Japanese, and other Asian peoples, have an extremely low rate of the disease.
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