by admin | Oct 25, 2023 | Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy
Biomedical applications of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the field of regenerative medicine continue to evolve. Coupled with the rapid development of molecular biology and transplantation techniques, MSC applications have become a central focus of research surrounding regenerative medicine.
Since being discovered nearly 50 years ago, the understanding of various techniques for MSC extractions and the subsequent potential for differentiation has continued to advance.
This review, presented by Han et al., provides a brief overview of MSC extraction methods and their subsequent potential for differentiation and summarizes the future applications and challenges of various MSCs in the field of regenerative medicine.
It has now been well established that MSCs can be isolated from various tissues, including bone marrow, adipose, synovium, and human umbilical cord blood. The general process for MSC extraction involves the isolation of various tissues, digestion to obtain cells, culturing for three to five days, and continuous culturing of adherent cells to the desired passage.
Interestingly, the authors point out that rabbits are the most frequently used animal models for experiments involving cartilage or bone tissue regeneration. Considering this, the authors call for the surface markers of rabbit tissue-derived MSC to receive increased focus and further verification.
Han et al. also discuss the differentiation potentials of MSC types, highlighting that bone marrow-derived MSCs display superior capabilities for differentiation into osteogenesis and chondrogenesis under standard differentiation protocols. They also point out that umbilical cord blood-derived MSCs (UCB-MSCs) demonstrate biological advantages relative to other adult sources, including their capability for longer culture times, larger-scale expansion, and higher anti-inflammatory effects. Considering that differentiation conditions vary based on the type of MSC, the authors highlight that it is becoming increasingly necessary to choose the desired MSC type according to the specific purpose being sought.
MSC-based regenerative medicine has been widely studied and applied to many aspects of the field. This review summarizes several reports concerning the latest preclinical and clinical trials of various MSC types for tissue engineering, most notably the reconstruction of fragile tissue associated with the musculoskeletal system, nervous system, myocardium, liver, cornea, trachea, and skin.
In order to improve the therapeutic effectiveness of MSCs, while also reducing the potential identified risks, the authors suggest reducing excessive cytokines, further exploring the immunomodulatory effects of MSCs, and establishing strict preclinical biosafety testing rules. Additionally, longer and larger controlled clinical trials are required to further determine the safety of MSCs.
While there have been tremendous advances in the field of regenerative medicine, especially as they relate to MSCs, Han et al. share a number of challenges that have to be overcome before the clinical application of MSC therapy, with the primary challenge being the implementation of a standardized method of isolation and culturing for MSCs.
The authors conclude this review by summarizing three distinct properties of MSCs that make them an optimal source of tissue regeneration: their immunoregulatory capacity, paracrine or autocrine functions that generate growth factors, and their ability to differentiate into target cells.
Source: “Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Regenerative Medicine – PMC – NCBI.” 13 Aug. 2019, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6721852/.
by Stemedix | Oct 16, 2023 | Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson’s disease is a complex neurological disorder. It can affect many aspects of your life and wear down your mental health. Fortunately, there are now modern treatment options that help you manage your Parkinson’s symptoms.
If you’ve just received a Parkinson’s diagnosis, don’t give up hope. Learn more about your treatment options so you can live your life to the fullest, regardless of your diagnosis.
How Parkinson’s Symptoms Affect Daily Living
You’ve probably heard of the most common symptoms of Parkinson’s. They can make daily tasks feel more challenging and inaccessible. As Parkinson’s disease progresses, if there is no medical intervention, symptoms tend to worsen.
Motor Symptoms: Trouble with Normal Movements
Parkinson’s disease is related to the amount of dopamine in your brain. When your brain cells stop producing the correct amount of dopamine, your movements change. You no longer have smooth, controlled movements. You may experience shaking, tremors, and slowed motor skills.
Someone with Parkinson’s may have trouble lifting, bending, twisting, or even walking. In the later stages of this disease, Parkinson’s can cause complete immobility, necessitating wheelchair assistance.
If you can’t move around properly, you can’t carry out many normal daily tasks. Cooking, cleaning, and self-care have become nearly impossible.
Digestive Health and Gastrointestinal Problems
Changes in your brain from Parkinson’s disease can lead to problems with digestion. You may experience constipation, bloating and indigestion, and urinary incontinence. Gastrointestinal changes can make eating a less positive experience for Parkinson’s patients.
Mood and Personality Changes
As with any neurodegenerative disorder, Parkinson’s disease can cause mood changes. You may not recognize what’s happening to your mental state. Unfortunately, this is an expected symptom of this neurodegenerative disease.
Parkinson’s patients may experience increased irritability, suspicion, confusion, and depression. These mood changes make it harder to get along with other people. You may start to feel like a different person altogether.
Personality changes can impact your social relationships, which are essential for human health and connection. With the rise in stem cell therapy treatments for Parkinson’s, however, there is hope for getting back to your former self.
Why Early Treatment Is So Important
Getting Parkinson’s disease treated early is essential to slowing the progression of this disorder. The earlier you catch Parkinson’s, the better your outcome will be. Since this is a neurodegenerative disorder, time spent untreated can worsen your symptoms.
If you have just received a diagnosis, now is the time to start looking into your treatment options. What’s out there for you? Is there hope? The answer is yes.
What Are Your Treatment Options?
Modern science and research have allowed medical providers to help slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease. Treatment options include various therapies to help you regain your speech and motor skills. Other innovative treatments, like regenerative medicine, help manage the condition by repairing tissues to improve your health.
Changing Your Lifestyle
Lifestyle changes can have surprising effects on your overall health. Certain parts of your lifestyle may be contributing to worsening health. These can include smoking, under exercising, and overeating.
When you receive a Parkinson’s diagnosis, it’s important to take your health seriously. Getting plenty of sleep and nutrition will help you feel your best each day. You should also quit smoking and give up other harmful habits, like excessive snacking on junk food.
You can protect your health by including healthier habits in your daily routine. Lifestyle changes alone may not cure Parkinson’s, but they can improve your quality of life.
Occupational, Speech, and Motor Therapy
You can opt for speech, motor, or occupational therapy to improve your skills in daily life. These therapies are designed to restore daily functioning in ways that promote independence. If you struggle with your current tasks, this may be a good option for you.
Certified therapists will help you gain new skills that assist with movement, speech, and performing tasks. A Parkinson’s diagnosis doesn’t mean you’re doomed. With the right types of therapy in your life, you can achieve a higher level of function.
Regenerative Medicine with Regenerative Properties
Regenerative medicine, also known as stem cell therapy, utilizes mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). MSCs are multipotent stem cells that can be isolated from various tissues, such as bone marrow, adipose tissue, and umbilical cord, and they possess several beneficial properties.
MSCs hold promise as a potential therapeutic approach for Parkinson’s disease. This condition is characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain. MSCs have been studied for their ability to modulate inflammation, promote neuroprotection, and stimulate endogenous repair mechanisms in the brain.
MSCs have shown the potential to improve motor function, reduce neuroinflammation, and promote the survival and differentiation of existing neurons. Additionally, MSCs can secrete neurotrophic factors and anti-inflammatory molecules, which may contribute to their therapeutic effects.
When it comes to Parkinson’s disease treatment options, stem cell therapy may be one to explore as a potential therapy in conjunction to others. Some patients experience improvements in their speech, cognition, and motor skills after stem cell treatments.
What to Expect from Stem Cell Therapy for Parkinson’s
Scientists have not yet found a cure for Parkinson’s disease. However, with appropriate stem cell therapy, we may be able to slow the progression of this disorder. Here are some results you can expect from consistent stem cell treatments for Parkinson’s.
More Energy
Stem cell treatments have given our patients more energy and less fatigue. You want to enjoy your life to the fullest. Why not enjoy an extra energy boost from the regenerative powers of stem cell therapy?
Reduced Tremors and Shaking
Tremors are an inconvenient symptom of Parkinson’s disease. Certain stem cell treatments may reduce the frequency of your tremors and shaking. Arm and leg movements would then be easier and less stressful. You may find that your coordination also improves.
Better Cognition and Memory
Parkinson’s unfortunately affects the way you think and how much you can remember. Some patients have seen marked cognitive improvement after stem cell treatments. This is likely because stem cells have the power to regenerate damaged brain cells and improve overall mental functioning.
More Fluid Movements
Stiffness and inflexibility come with Parkinson’s disease. Through stem cell therapy, you may be able to achieve more fluid movements.
Managing Your Parkinson’s Diagnosis with Hope
With a Parkinson’s diagnosis, you do have options to explore. Through traditional and innovative treatments like stem cell therapy, science may be able to help you reverse or slow the progression of this disease. Patients can have the potential to manage their condition and possibly help improve their daily life and activities.
by admin | Oct 11, 2023 | Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy
Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have repeatedly demonstrated the capacity to limit injury and promote regeneration through signaling and secretion of trophic factors. Considering this, MSCs have been increasingly used as a treatment for a wide variety of injuries and immune-related, infectious, and degenerative diseases.
In this review, Jahromi et al. provide a brief overview of the fate and efficacy of intramuscular (IM) delivered MSCs and identify the gaps that require additional study before IM-delivered MSCs are adopted as a primary treatment of systemic diseases.
Specifically, a recent study has demonstrated significant advantages of using skeletal muscle for the delivery of MSC. While skeletal muscle has been used as a delivery route for myopathic, neurodegenerative, and vascular diseases, these studies have identified 3 main advantages of skeletal muscle MSC delivery.
These advantages include extended dwell time provided by dense muscle fibers that retain the MSCs in situ; high vascular density that provides a conduit for systemic release of MSC trophic factors; and an abundance of tissue that allows for multiple injection sites.
Research has identified two key factors that profoundly affect observed dwell-time variations of 72 hours to 8 months observed in MSCs transplanted in the skeletal muscle; these factors include immune rejection and the methods used for MSC detections. Considering this, the authors point out that allotransplantation provides an advantage since MSCs exhibit low immunogenicity and are expected to evade the immune system.
Although little information on the IM delivery of MSCs currently exists, previously conducted clinical trials demonstrated no therapeutic advantage of using higher doses of MSCs; other studies demonstrated medium doses of MSCs to be more effective than either a lower or higher dose.
While IM-delivery has been shown to be clinically safe and increases the longevity of the secretory activity of the delivered cells, the authors point out that it is important to further evaluate the fate of MSCs post-delivery in skeletal muscle.
Jahromi et al. conclude that the studies reviewed as part of this brief collectively support the notion of broadening the applicability of IM-delivery route from local therapy to the treatment of system disease with multiple studies demonstrating IM-delivered MSCs to be safe and to provide and extended dwell time while remaining secretorily active.
Source: “Concise Review: Skeletal Muscle as a Delivery Route for … – NCBI.” 5 Feb. 2019, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6477141/.
by admin | Oct 4, 2023 | Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic and progressive inflammatory disease that primarily affects the sacroiliac joints and the spine; in rare cases, AS can also cause issues for the peripheral joints and extra-articular organs, including the skin, eyes, and cardiovascular system.
While there are a number of drugs prescribed to treat symptoms associated with AS, there is currently not a cure for AS nor is there a non-pharmaceutical method for treating the condition and its symptoms.
Considering the potent immune-modulated activity and their ability to inhibit B cell differentiation, T cell activation, and proliferation, researchers have increasingly been exploring the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as a potential treatment option for a number of autoimmune diseases.
In this current study, Li et al. evaluated the therapeutic effects of umbilical cord MSC (uMSC) transplantation in patients with AS. This review summarizes the authors’ findings.
Specifically, Li et al.’s study evaluated 5 patients with AS after receiving intravenous transfusions of uMSCs.
After receiving an intravenous uMSC transfusion, the authors reported lower levels of inflammation, slowed progression of AS, and reduced levels of ESR, CRP, and other specific markers indicative of improved spinal functions and spinal movement in subjects with AS.
Considering these findings, the authors conclude that uMSC transplantation is feasible and safe and induces limited side effects.
The authors of this study also highlight a number of limitations, including the low number of patients, limited statistical analysis, and lack of a control group that did not receive an infusion.
In light of these results, Li et al. call for future studies using a larger cohort of patients with AS to enable the systematic evaluation of uMSC in treating symptoms of AS.
Source: “Infusion of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells alleviates … – NCBI.” 27 Jun. 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5526206/.
by admin | Sep 27, 2023 | Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy, Wharton's Jelly
Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) continue to be viewed as a source of cell therapy applications due to their immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects and because of their ability to stimulate angiogenesis. In MSCs, these benefits are mainly attributed to the secretion of factors.
Despite MSCs’ known and favorable proliferation levels, multipotency, and immune response regulation, there are other important variables that should be considered when developing cell therapy applications, including the source of MSCs.
Considering that MSCs collected from different tissues can form heterogeneous cellular populations and manifest tissue-specific functional differences, the source of MSCs should be of primary consideration when developing new therapeutic approaches.
In this review, Paladino et al. present a review of recent research related to the therapeutic application of Wharton’s jelly MSC (WJ-MSC) harvested from umbilical cords and how these cells affect immune responses in comparison with other sources of MSCs.
Bone marrow-derived stem cells BM-MSCs have long been considered the favored source of MSCs and are the most used source of MSCs in clinical research. However, BM-MSCs have a history of showing mixed results and are not always recommended for use due to the invasive and painful process used to obtain the MSCs.
While other alternative sources, including adipose tissue, dental pulp, and menstrual blood, are available, WJ-MSCs are considered an easily accessible source of MSCs that are comparable to BM-MSC and have suffered less environmental interference and demonstrate higher proliferative capacity than other sources.
One of the most promising benefits associated with MSC therapy is the potential to treat inflammatory or autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus, type 1 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.
Studies using WJ-MSC in this capacity have shown their robust immunomodulatory potential. Specifically, the authors of this review reference a number of studies using various sources of MSCs, including WJ-MSCs that demonstrate immunomodulatory potential similar to other MSC sources. Studies also demonstrate that WJ-MSC is a better suppressor of specific inflammatory factors, including mixed lymphocyte reaction, and possesses higher levels of IL-17A (a key mediator in the treatment of graft-versus-host disease) than MSCs collected from other sources.
Paladino et al. conclude that the available literature indicates that WJ-MSCs possess immunological features comparable to MSCs from other sources, including bone marrow-derived MSCs. The authors also call for further study to identify the best therapeutic indications for WJ-MSCs as a substitute for other sources of MSC, including BM-MSC.
Source: “The Immunomodulatory Potential of Wharton’s Jelly Mesenchymal ….” 11 Jun. 2019, https://www.hindawi.com/journals/sci/2019/3548917/.
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