Stem Cell Therapy Can Help to Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis

by Stemedix | Jul 26, 2021 | Rheumatoid Arthritis, Stem Cell Therapy

There are a number of things that can cause arthritis, a painful condition that causes stiffness in joints. In Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), the body’s immune system attacks the musculoskeletal system, causing inflammation that leads to arthritis pain. Over time, RA can cause a number of problems, including cartilage deterioration, swelling, and excess synovial fluid at the joint. In this article, we talk about how Stem Cell Therapy can help to treat Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Using Stem Cell Therapy to Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis

Because RA is a chronic condition, there is no cure. This means that treatment focuses on preventing attacks and easing symptoms. While there are medications that can help to tamp down the autoimmune response that causes RA pain, symptom management tends to rely on medication to relieve pain, which can be difficult to moderate.

Instead, some patients are seeking out stem cell therapy. Stem cells have the ability to differentiate into other cell types. By administering mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) systemically and directly to problematic joints, it may potentially help to regrow cartilage tissue and ease pain from rheumatoid arthritis.

How Stem Cell Therapy Can Benefit RA Patients

By taking a different approach to the treatment of RA, stem cell therapy offers potential relief that traditional treatments have not been able to provide to patients, including:

Regenerating Tissue

Because stem cells are able to differentiate into other cell types, they can be particularly useful for patients suffering from RA. When these stem cells are injected into a joint, they can help to rebuild the cartilage that cushions joints, counteracting the damage from RA.

Stem cells also have the potential to help regenerate other damaged tissues as well, including the synovium tissues, which help lubricate joints to keep them from becoming inflamed.

Regulating the Autoimmune Response

Stem cells have shown to be safe and promising in helping reduce the inflammatory response that results from the autoimmune attacks behind RA. Stem cell therapy has been used in the treatment of other autoimmune diseases, including Crohn’s disease and multiple sclerosis, and it shows promise for RA, as well. So yes, Stem Cell Therapy can help to treat Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Reducing Further RA Damage

Stem cell therapy offers the possibility of reducing further RA attacks on joints that may not yet be affected by the disease. With the potential to limit the autoimmune responses that cause RA damage and to instead encourage healing and tissue growth, stem cells may be able to slow the impact of rheumatoid arthritis. This may allow patients to experience less pain and preserve their quality of life. If you would like to schedule an appointment to treat your RA, contact a care coordinator today!

Can Stem Cells Help Manage Chronic Orthopedic Problems?

by Stemedix | Jun 28, 2021 | Stem Cell Therapy

Orthopedic conditions can present many challenges to patients. Chronic orthopedic problems often result in ongoing pain and discomfort. Traditional medical approaches to injuries and joint-related ailments often require painful surgeries. These invasive procedures can involve difficult and extended recovery times. Common examples of orthopedic problems include:

Bursitis
Osteoarthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Osteoporosis
Pain from injuries

Fortunately, many patients have found relief for their chronic orthopedic problems through stem cell therapies.

Understanding Stem Cell Therapy

Regenerative Medicine, also known as stem cell therapy, is a new area of medical science that is showing promise for patients facing chronic conditions.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are naturally produced by the body. They are a type of “simple” cell that can be used to develop a wide range of complex cells. When they are properly administered into an injured or affected area on the patient’s body, stem cells can:

Help to alleviate inflammation.
Promote healing processes.
Generate new tissues.

Stem cells can be collected from umbilical cord, bone marrow, or adipose (fat) tissues. Once extracted, a board-certified professional can use a concentration of MSCs to administer to targeted areas of the body. In some instances, the provider may use imaging technology to ensure that the injection is placed accurately.

Stem Cell Therapy for Chronic Orthopedic Conditions

Over the past thirty years, doctors and patients have seen many benefits to MSC therapy. In many cases, these alternative treatments can help patients to avoid surgery and relieve pain.

Stem cell therapy is non-invasive. Stem cell therapies are not cure-all treatments and cannot be a guarantee. They provide an option for management of symptoms and to help halt or slow down the progression of one’s condition. For some conditions, other therapies may be necessary.

A therapy provider may recommend stem cell treatments in conjunction with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy. PRP therapy involves concentrating platelets from the patient’s blood and injecting them into the soft tissue of painful joints. When used to supplement MSC therapies, PRP may help to:

Reduce joint pain
Slow cartilage destruction
Stimulate cell repair and growth rate
Provide a faster level of healing

Research suggests that many patients with chronic orthopedic conditions may be helped by MSC therapies. For instance, MSC therapy has been shown to potentially halt the progressive symptoms of osteoarthritis. These exciting and innovative treatments offer many potential benefits to patients who are suffering from chronic orthopedic conditions. If you would like to learn more then contact us today and speak with a care coordinator.

Exploring The Role of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine In Treating Lung Disease

by admin | Jun 4, 2021 | Stem Cell Therapy, COPD, Stem Cell Research

For patients facing a lung disease, including COPD, current and traditional therapeutic options may not be as effective in managing symptoms or slowing the progression of the condition so researchers have turned their attention to the potential benefits of stem cell therapy and ex vivo lung bioengineering in hopes of developing new and effective therapeutic approaches to treat lung disease.

Demonstrating a rapid progression over the last decade, the development of stem cell therapies and bioengineering approaches for lung disease has primarily shifted focus to the application of immunomodulatory and paracrine actions of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and the field of ex vivo lung bioengineering.

In this manuscript, Weiss reviews clinical trials in lung disease and provides the current progress for a variety of therapeutic options. Specific treatments reviewed include:

Structural Engraftment of Circulating or Exogenously Administered Stem Cells
Ex Vivo Derivation of Lung Epithelial Cells from Embryonic Stem Cells or Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS)
Endogenous Lung Stem and Progenitor Cells
Circulating Fibrocytes
Endothelial Progenitor Cells
MSCs and Immunomodulation of Lung Disease

The author points out that although preclinical literature supports the use of EPCs and MSCs in acute lung injury and/or chronic inflammatory and immune-mediated conditions (including asthma, bronchiolitis, obliterans, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia), these preclinical models are not always predictive of clinical behaviors. As such, clinical investigations of these cell-based therapies for lung disease have been slow to develop.

Currently, the only effective treatment for severe lung diseases, including BPD, CF, COPD, and IPF, is lung transplantation. With a 50% five-year post-transplant mortality rate, essential lifelong immunosuppression (to prevent chronic lung rejection), and a critical shortage of donor’s lungs, research has turned its attention toward manufacturing surgically implantable ex vivo (or “outside the living body”) lung tissue. While several challenges still exist, recent significant progress has been made using both synthetic and donor tissue in generating ex vivo tissue for use in various lung treatment applications.

The author concludes that while exciting progress has been made in the field of stem cell therapy and ex vivo generation of tissue to treat lung diseases, much research is still on the horizon. Within future research, they hope to better understand the identity of endogenous lung airway, the development of functional airway and alveolar epithelial cells from ESCs and iPS cells, and a better understanding of the physiologic and pathophysiologic roles of EPC and Fibrocytes in lung diseases.

The use of stem cell therapy and ex vivo lung bioengineering offers tremendous potential for the treatment of lung diseases, however, the clinical use of artificial engineered or decellularized scaffolds for use in treating lung disease is likely to be several years off.

Source: (n.d.). Current Status of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine in Lung …. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4208500/

Advancing Stem Cell Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury

by admin | May 14, 2021 | Stem Cell Therapy, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research, Traumatic Brain Injury

According to the CDC, in 2019, traumatic brain injury (TBI) contributed to nearly 61,000 deaths in the United States alone^[1]. While there are several clinical treatments designed to address the neurological dysfunction after sustaining a TBI, including hyperbaric oxygen, brain stimulation, and behavioral therapy, none appear to produce satisfactory or lasting results.

In recent years, several studies have demonstrated the therapeutic potential of various stem cells, including mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), neural stem cells (NSCs), Multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs), and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in the treatment of neurological impairment resulting from TBI. Specific benefits of these stem cells observed throughout these studies demonstrate that exogenous stem cells have the ability to migrate to the site of damaged brain tissue, help to repair damaged tissue, and significantly improve neurological function.

In this article, Zhou et al. review recent findings on the role, effects, deficiencies, and related mechanisms of the various stem cells being used as therapeutic agents in the treatment of TBI.

Examining numerous studies occurring between 2010-17 and exploring various TBI models and the roles of different stem cells in animal models, the author’s general summary is that the use of stem cells demonstrated some form of measurable improvement in every study reviewed. As a reference, specific observed benefits included improved integrity of the blood-brain barrier; improved neurological function, social interaction, and motor performance; enhanced neurovascular repair and recovery; and enhanced cognitive and spatial learning, information retention, and memory retrieval.

The authors point out that although there appears to be a large amount of research exploring the complexity of pathophysiology and the application of stem cell therapy for treating TBI, many problems still exist and must be addressed before the best method for TBI recovery can be determined.

Specifically, while there have been several clinical studies exploring the role of stem cells in the role of TBI treatment and recovery, and while most demonstrate promising results, the studies have almost universally been completed on mice and/or rats, contained human sample sizes that are not large enough, or failed to include a control group. As a result, Zhou et al. call for further study, including multi-center long term follow-up and randomized prospective trials that examine the safety of stem cells, route of injection, the time of injection, and the specific mechanisms as a way to identify the appropriate and effective stem-cell-based therapeutic treatment options for those suffering from various types of TBI.

Source: (2019, August 13). Advance of Stem Cell Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6700304/

^[1] (2021, May 12). Get the Facts About TBI | Concussion …. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html

Using Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Musculoskeletal Regeneration in Clinical Applications: Current Status and Perspectives

by admin | May 7, 2021 | Stem Cell Therapy, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Musculoskeletal

Research exploring the benefits of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has demonstrated tremendous potential as a regenerative therapy option for the musculoskeletal system. Research into these cell-based regenerative therapies is promising, and they must continue to provide the data necessary to show their therapeutic potential in clinical settings.

In this review, Steinert et al. review and summarize some of the promising and unique therapeutic features of adult MSCs, detail their current state of clinical application as a regenerative musculoskeletal therapy, and describe the potential for future developments in this field.

Specifically, as a part of this review, the authors share the status of 31 clinical cell therapies for musculoskeletal regeneration occurring between 1996 through 2011 and specifically covering bone defects and nonunions, avascular necrosis of the hip, cysts and benign tumors of the bone, cartilage lesions, and tendons and ligaments; results for the majority demonstrate the safety of and/or the efficacy associated with the specific method of cell-delivery being evaluated.

The field of regenerative orthopedics points to the large body of MSC clinical research indicating the successful treatment of myocardial infarction, post-stroke or spinal cord injury nerve regeneration, graft versus host disease, and a variety of other conditions as an indication that the application has tremendous potential as a regenerative therapeutic option in a wide variety of musculoskeletal indications.

Although there appears to be evidence demonstrating the paracrine and trophic functions of MSCs, research explaining the specifically demonstrated therapeutic effects is still being determined. The authors highlight that research continues to explore the reasonable therapeutic expectations associated with MSC-based treatments, an essential step required to fully understand the range of healing associated with musculoskeletal regenerative cell-based therapy.

The authors, in concluding this review, point out that the demand for MSC-based musculoskeletal regenerative therapies continues to increase. Steinert et al. call for further study into the specific combination of cell preparation, bioactive factors, and stimuli for each specific MSC therapeutic application. Once these have been demonstrated for each application and should they demonstrate better or improved outcomes compared to standard treatments, only then can they be considered for long-term clinical application.

Source: (n.d.). Concise review: the clinical application of mesenchymal stem cells …. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23197783/

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