by admin | Nov 4, 2022 | Stem Cell Therapy, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Stem Cell Research
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have demonstrated the ability to differentiate into a number of different cells; they also demonstrate immunomodulatory properties that have great potential for use as a stem cell-based therapeutic treatment option and for the treatment of autoimmune diseases – including rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
RA is a chronic and debilitating inflammatory disorder that not only affects the joints, muscles, and tendons, but also damages a number of other body systems, including the eyes, skin, lungs, heart, and blood vessels[1]. It is estimated that roughly 1.5 million Americans are afflicted by RA. While the exact cause of RA is not yet fully understood, the condition is one of over 80 known autoimmune diseases occurring as a result of the immune system mistakenly attacking the body’s own healthy tissue.
Current treatment of RA primarily involves the use of steroids and antirheumatic drugs used primarily to manage associated symptoms of the condition, rather than treat the condition itself. These drugs are also commonly associated with a number of unwanted side effects with users often developing resistance to the medication after prolonged use.
Considering the relative ineffectiveness of drugs designed to treat RA and RA-associated symptoms, scientists have turned to investigate the use of MSC-based therapy as a potential treatment for RA.
As part of this investigation, Sarsenova et al. examined both conventional and modern RA treatment approaches, including MSC-based therapy, by examining the connection between these stem cells and the innate and adaptive immune systems. This review also evaluates recent preclinical and clinical approaches to enhancing the immunoregulatory properties of MSCs.
Through a number of in vitro studies, researchers have realized that MSCs have the ability to inhibit the proliferation of effector memory T cells which, in turn, prevents the proliferation of inflammatory cytokine production. Additionally, these studies have also demonstrated that MSCs are able to modulate functions of the innate immune system by inducting the inflammatory process and activating the adaptive immune system.
Preclinical studies have demonstrated the ability of MSCs to suppress inflammation both through interactions with cells of the immune system and through paracrine mechanisms. This has been demonstrated to be very important as cells of the innate immune system have been shown to have an important role in both the development and progression of RA.
While a number of clinical studies evaluating the effectiveness of MSC-based therapies for the treatment of RA were still ongoing at the time of publication, the nine completed studies primarily demonstrated that using MSCs for the treatment of RA is safe, well tolerated in both the short and long-term, and provides clinical improvements in RA patients.
Despite the many positive and promising outcomes observed through these clinical trials, the authors of this review also point out some limitations associated with the treatment of RA with MSCs. These limitations include many of the referenced studies lacking a placebo control, low enrollment in some studies, and a lack of optimal protocol (for both MSC sourcing and route of administration) for RA treatment with MSCs.
Considering these limitations, Sarsenova et al. point out the need for more well-defined and effective therapeutic windows for the treatment of RA with MSCs, including MSC priming to promote an anti-inflammatory phenotype, in a future study as a way to better understand the perceived benefits of a stem-cell therapy for the treatment of RA and other autoimmune diseases.
Source: “Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Based Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis.” 27 Oct. 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8584240/.
[1] “Rheumatoid arthritis – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic.” 18 May. 2021, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/symptoms-causes/syc-20353648. Accessed 5 Oct. 2022.
by Stemedix | Oct 24, 2022 | PRP, Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cell therapies and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) are regenerative medicine treatments that use the body’s natural healing mechanisms to repair damage and restore function. Unlike traditional medicine, which often works to alleviate symptoms instead of targeting the source of pain or illness, regenerative treatments aim to heal the underlying cause of pain or dysfunction. PRP & stem cells often have overlapping benefits and sometimes are used interchangeably. However, the treatments have some significant differences.
What Is PRP Therapy?
Platelets are cells within the blood that identify damaged areas and bind together to start the healing process. Platelet-rich plasma comes from a sample of the patient’s blood placed in a centrifuge that separates and concentrates the platelets in the plasma.
Once concentrated, the PRP contains three to five times the platelets as a blood sample. Next, a physician administers the PRP into damaged or injured areas to expedite healing.
When you cut your hand, your platelets form a clot to stop the bleeding. The clot releases growth factors into the injured area to trigger the body’s repair response. The growth factors are released in varying intervals, drawing stem cells and new blood vessels to the injury site to promote healing through new blood and oxygen.
What Is Stem Cell Therapy?
Stem cells are found throughout the body, mostly lying dormant until there’s an injury that triggers them to react. Then, they’re the only cells in the body capable of division and differentiation. When stem cells divide, they create more stem cells. However, when stem cells differentiate, they make specialized cells, like blood or brain cells.
Like PRP, stem cells initiate the body’s healing response. But stem cells can also repair and regenerate damaged tissue. For example, stem cells can offer pain relief by restoring diseased or injured tissue with long-term results.
How Do the Treatments Differ?
The critical differences between stem cell therapy and PRP therapy come from how they work and where they’re most effective.
Platelet-Rich Plasma
PRP’s key benefit is the therapy’s ability to initiate and accelerate healing. The platelets’ growth factors can:
- Regulate inflammation
- Trigger the growth of new blood vessels
- Activate the nearby cells’ healing activities
- Protect healthy tissues
Since PRP mainly offers healing benefits, this therapy is often preferred to promote healing from musculoskeletal injuries.
Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cells go beyond repairing tissue and can also regenerate damaged cells. Since stem cells can serve all the functions of PRP and convert to any tissue the body needs, they can treat musculoskeletal injuries and degenerative conditions, such as arthritis.
Stem cell therapies have the capability to replace and repair tissues to remedy the source of pain or damage, making them a potentially more comprehensive and effective option that may be suitable for treating a broader range of conditions. To learn more about PRP & Stem Cells contact us today at Stemedix!
by Stemedix | Oct 10, 2022 | Alzheimer’s Disease, Stem Cell Therapy
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most prevalent neurological conditions in the world, affecting more than 5.8 million people in the United States alone. While millions of people suffer from the condition, not everyone understands how Alzheimer’s really affects the brain. So how does Alzheimer’s affect the brain? Keep reading to find out!
How Alzheimer’s Impacts Your Brain
Alzheimer’s is a progressive neurological disease that results in damage to the brain. Alzheimer’s attacks the regions of the brain that are responsible for memory and language. This leads to severe memory loss and other cognitive symptoms.
The exact cause of Alzheimer’s is still largely unknown, but it has been linked to the buildup of plaque within the brain. It is also thought to be genetic in some cases, affecting multiple people from the same family.
Symptoms of Alzheimer’s
Treating Alzheimer’s relies heavily on an early diagnosis. In order to detect the disease as early as possible, you should be on the lookout for signs and symptoms that could indicate changes within the brain. The following are some of the most common signs of Alzheimer’s disease:
- Difficulty completing familiar tasks
- Unable to recall everyday information
- Getting lost in familiar locations
- Frequently misplacing things
- Mood swings and extreme behavioral changes
- Uncharacteristic decision-making
- Difficulty with finances
- Sudden poor hygiene or unkept home
While these symptoms can sometimes be attributed to mental health disorders like depression, they are often indicators of Alzheimer’s disease, particularly in older individuals. When you notice these signs in yourself or a loved one, being evaluated by a neurologist as soon as possible is vital for successful treatment.
Treating Alzheimer’s Disease
The way Alzheimer’s disease is treated has evolved in recent years. In the past, there were very few options in terms of slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s. Patients and their loved ones relied on behavioral intervention and other therapeutic approaches to cope with the symptoms of the disease.
Thanks to recent research, now there may be alternative options to help slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s and reduce the severity of symptoms.
One innovative approach involves regenerative medicine, also known as stem cell therapy. A patient’s own stem cells could potentially be used to heal the damage that Alzheimer’s causes to certain areas of the brain. Stem cell therapy also provides regenerative properties that could produce new neurons, replacing any damaged cells within the brain.
Research on stem cells as a treatment for Alzheimer’s is ongoing, but studies have shown that the approach is most effective when a patient is in the earlier stages of the disease. To learn more about ” How does Alzheimer’s affect the brain? ” and the options available at Stemedix, contact a care coordinator today!
by Stemedix | Oct 3, 2022 | Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Stem Cell Therapy
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a collection of symptoms that make work, relationships, and personal achievement more difficult. Patients with CFS cannot pinpoint other underlying disorders or diseases as the cause of their symptoms.
If chronic fatigue syndrome is taking over your life, there is a promising potential solution: regenerative medicine therapy.
How Regenerative Medicine May Help
Regenerative medicine, also known as stem cell therapy, works by harnessing your body’s ability to regenerate healthy cells.
When you suffer from a complex disorder like chronic fatigue syndrome, your healthy cells and tissues are constantly under attack. Stem cell therapy may be able to rebuild damaged cells so you can experience the relief you have been seeking.
Pain Management
Common symptoms of CFS include muscle pain and weakness. Sufferers of CFS also report frequent headaches that can be debilitating.
Stem cell treatments have the potential to provide long-term pain relief using your body’s natural regenerative processes. If you are looking for an alternative method of pain relief, stem cell therapy might be for you.
Immune System Regulation
Chronic fatigue syndrome is believed to be a type of autoimmune disorder. This means that your immune system incorrectly identifies your own cells and tissues as threats.
Stem cell therapy can help regulate patients’ immune systems in some cases. This would prevent your immune system from continuing the cycle of draining symptoms you experience with CFS.
Energy Boost
A key sign of chronic fatigue syndrome is constant exhaustion. No matter how much sleep, you probably feel like you had no rest at all.
Stem cell therapy has the potential to boost your energy levels by repairing and rebuilding essential cells and tissues. Your body has been under attack for a long time, but stem cell therapy may be able to break the cycle.
The Power of Stem Cells in CFS Therapies
Since stem cells can develop into almost any type of specialized cell in your body, they can be powerful tools for rejuvenating your health. Your body follows certain processes to repair and regenerate cells and tissues. Stem cells kick-start these processes and provide more resources for repair.
Managing CFS is about relieving symptoms. If your daily life is affected by chronic fatigue syndrome, stem cell therapy might be worth exploring to potentially improve how you feel. This experimental therapy is natural and has been studied to be safe and provide the potential for symptom relief. To learn more about the options available at Stemedix, contact us today!
by admin | Oct 1, 2022 | Stem Cell Therapy, Exosomes, Extracellular Vesicles, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research
The number of people experiencing autoimmune diseases (ADs) continues to increase worldwide. Currently, it’s estimated that between 2 and 5% of the global population is afflicted with the most severe forms of these diseases, including type 1 diabetes (T1DM), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
An autoimmune disease can occur nearly anywhere in the body and is the result of the immune system mistakenly attacking your body instead of protecting it. While the reason this occurs is not yet fully understood, there are over 100 different types of autoimmune diseases classified into two types: organ-specific (T1DM) and multiple system-involved conditions (SLE and RA).
In addition to T1DM, SLE, and RA, other common autoimmune conditions include Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBS), and multiple sclerosis (MS).
In addition to not fully understanding why these conditions occur, conventional treatments (mainly in the form of immunosuppressants) alleviate associated symptoms but do not provide lasting or effective therapy for preventing or curing these diseases.
In recent years, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and MSC-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EV) have demonstrated immunosuppressive and regenerative effects, and are now being investigated as promising new therapies for the treatment of ADs. In this review, Martinez-Arroyo et al. provide a complete analysis of current MSC and MSC-EV efforts in regard to some of the most severe ADs (T1DM, RA, and SLE) as a way to demonstrate progress in the discovery and application of new stem cell therapies for the treatment of ADs.
Initial research by the International Society of Cellular Therapy in 2006 established that MSCs are able to exert a range of biological functions, with the most well-known being immunosuppressive and regenerative effects, suggesting that MSCs-based therapies for the treatment of ADs is possible. Additional research has also demonstrated MSCs role in regenerative medicine to be safe and effective in treating a wide variety of diseases and injuries.
Further study has demonstrated that MSCs influence immune cell proliferation, differentiation, and function. While this is promising, research also suggested that the microenvironment influences the induction, increase, and maintenance of MSCs immunoregulatory role.
Considering this, the authors of this review suggest that blocking immune cell reprogramming while maintaining MSC roles in the immune microenvironment would provide new insights into identifying strategies for the biological treatment of ADs.
Current research and findings also support the use of MSC for the regeneration of tissue. This same research has also raised concerns related to cell survival, genetic instability, loss of function, and immune-mediated rejection. Because of this, Martinez-Arroyo et al. call for further study to better understand the biology, biomaterials, and tissue engineering used during MSC therapy.
The authors conclude this review by pointing out that there has been a revolutionary change in perspective in the field of MSC-based therapies for the treatment of AD primarily stemming from the use of MSC-EVs as potential therapeutic options.
Additionally, when comparing the use of MSCs to MSC-EVs, the authors highlight several advantages demonstrated by MSC-EVs. These advantages include providing stability and safety, avoiding tumorigenesis, genetic mutability, and immunogenicity when compared to MSCs, and allowing for several modifications to their surface and cargo – all enhancing their potential as viable treatment options for ADs.
While MSC-EVs demonstrate tremendous potential, the authors call attention to the fact that the use of MSC-EVs is still in the initial research and development phases and faces major obstacles and limitations in a number of areas, including overcoming the optimization of methods for MSC-EV characterization, high-scale production, and purification and improving MSC-EV targeting.
Considering these limitations, Martinez-Arroyo calls for further research with animal models and clinical assays as a way to test the safety and efficiency of using MSC-EVS as cell-free therapy for ADs.
Source: “Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles as Non ….” https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/14/4/733/htm.
by Stemedix | Sep 19, 2022 | Stem Cell Therapy
Sciatica pain radiates from the lower spine down the back of your leg. Pain from the sciatic nerve can vary from sharp and jolting to a mild ache. Some sufferers find it worsens when they perform small actions, like coughing or sneezing. In addition to pain, sciatica can cause numbness, muscle weakness, or tingling. While surgery offers a treatment option for some with sciatica, results can be inconsistent and often include a long recovery. Here we will discuss the nonsurgical therapy options for sciatica pain.
What Is Sciatica?
Sciatica refers to pain stemming from the sciatic nerve. Beginning in the lower spine, the sciatic nerve splits and extends down both legs, all the way to the feet, making it the largest nerve in the body.
Often sciatica results from a problem in the lumbar spine, such as a herniated or bulging disc that compresses the nerve and creates pain that travels throughout one side of the body.
Nonsurgical Therapy Options for Sciatica
Once sciatica is diagnosed correctly, patients can explore treatment options. Frequently, patients can find relief without surgery. Some of the most effective non-surgical treatments include:
Physical Therapy
Often, physical therapy is the first treatment a physician recommends for those suffering from sciatica. The exercises and movements used in physical therapy strengthen and restore the range of motion to the core, buttocks, pelvis, and legs.
Physical therapy focuses on reducing nerve and muscle spasms, improving mobility, fostering the spine’s healing, and restoring proper function to the lumbar spine and sacroiliac joint.
Medications
Over-the-counter or prescription anti-inflammatory medications, such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and naproxen, and prescription medications, such as muscle relaxants, may offer patients temporary relief from their sciatica pain.
In addition, patients can use some topical medications in conjunction with oral medications, including:
- Menthol
- Capsaicin
- Camphor
- Methyl salicylate
Topical treatments often provide pain relief with fewer side effects than oral medications.
Steroid and Nerve Blocking Injections
Steroid and nerve blocking injections are common and effective treatments to reduce pain and increase functionality temporarily.
A physician administers steroid injections and a local anesthetic into the space surrounding the nerve roots and spinal cord. Nerve blocking injections use live X-ray guidance to target the area where the nerve is compressed and turn off pain signals traveling to the brain.
Nerve blocks can be administered independently or in conjunction with steroid injections.
Regenerative Medicine
Recently, regenerative medicine which can include stem cell or platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections have provided an promising therapy option for sciatica. Both stem cells and PRP injections use the body’s natural healing properties to repair damaged cells, restore function, and reduce pain.
These options may offer relief by reducing inflammation and accelerating the healing process. As a result, they are emerging as a preferred alternative to treatments like steroid injections, which can result in long-term side effects that include cartilage and nerve damage. These side effects can exacerbate sciatica symptoms. If you would like to learn more about the Nonsurgical therapy options for sciatica, contact Stemedix today!
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