by admin | Dec 12, 2018 | Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cell therapy is used for a broad range of applications, including the treatment of injuries and chronic conditions. Before undergoing this form of therapy, many patients are naturally inclined to explore any possibilities which could enhance the effectiveness of treatment. One option which is sometimes posed to patients is voluntary fasting – but is there really any benefit to fasting prior to stem cell treatment?
What the Research Says
In May of 2018, MIT biologists announced that they’d made a groundbreaking discovery: according to their research, it appeared that fasting could boost stem cells’ regenerative capacity. In an animal study, fasting spurred cells to break down fatty acids instead of glucose, which stimulates stem cells to become more regenerative.
Yet, the evidence only showed the metabolic switch taking place in the intestinal stem cells. After mice fasted for 24 hours, the researchers removed intestinal stem cells and grew them, finding that the fasting doubled the cells’ regenerative capacity.
Unfortunately, while this finding could hold value for patients recovering from gastrointestinal infections or other conditions affecting the intestine, as of yet, there is no concrete evidence which suggests it could benefit patients receiving stem cell therapy for other conditions. For instance, someone who is undergoing stem cell therapy to treat a musculoskeletal injury may likely yield no benefit from fasting, as the enhanced regenerative effects have only been observed in intestinal cells.
Further Studies Are Needed
Aside from the study’s limited scope, the research leader himself also indicated that the findings are still too narrow for drawing concrete conclusions. When interviewed for a publication in Medium, senior author of the study and assistant professor of biology, Omer Yilmaz, said that while stem cells do indeed use fat for energy to improve function, “the next step is to work to understand why that is.” He also added that “with these types of interventions, there’s never one simple answer.”
For now, there appears to be too much uncertainty to recommend fasting prior to stem cell therapy. Because these findings have not been observed in any humans, and those that have been observed were concentrated to intestinal cells, anyone who is receiving stem cell therapy can consider that eating beforehand is possibly unlikely to play any role in altering the results of their treatment.
by admin | Nov 28, 2018 | Stem Cell Therapy, Wharton's Jelly
Perinatal stem cells have been attracting attention globally in recent years due to their potential in regenerative medicine. These stem cells come in many forms, due to the wide variety of potential sources for these cells. Perinatal stem cells, for instance, may be umbilical cord-derived hematopoietic stem cells, amniotic epithelial cells, amniotic fluid stem cells, or chorionic mesenchymal stem cells. All sources, nonetheless are considered biological waste and are therefore usually discarded after delivery of babies.
Importantly, perinatal stem cells, despite their origin, tend to share a number of characteristics that make them beneficial in treating conditions. Additionally, unlike other sources of stem cells, retrieval of perinatal stem cells is noninvasive and does not require the ethical considerations that retrieval from other sources may involve. A recent review in Regenerative Medicine has highlighted the potential benefits of perinatal stem cells in therapeutic interventions.
In addition to the relatively easy collection and preparation of perinatal stem cells, these cells tend to be easily harvested and manipulated without harming either the mother or the baby. Upon collection, these stem cells exist in high volume and have greater ability to proliferate than other stem cell types such as bone marrow stem cells. Research has also shown that these cells tend not to lead to adverse immune reactions, though the mechanisms involved in their relationship to the immune system are not well understood.
Given their relative advantages over other stem cell types, perinatal stem cells are well poised to be used in cell-based therapies targeting a wide variety of conditions. Future research will help to define the precise role these cells can play in regenerative medicine and which conditions they may be most useful for.
by admin | Nov 19, 2018 | Adipose, Osteoarthritis, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy
Bone generally develops via one of two distinct mechanisms: intramembranous ossification and endochondral ossification. In the former case, mesenchymal progenitor cells directly differentiate into osteoblasts that form bone. In the latter case, the mesenchymal progenitor cells first create a matrix of cartilage that then acts as a template to enable the remodeling or development of bone tissue. This process of endochondral ossification is the predominant way that bone is generating during the healing process after bones are broken and fractures are endured. Using stem cells to facilitate this process can, therefore, be beneficial in non-healing bone fractures.
A new study published in Acta Biomaterialia has proposed that adipose tissue can be used in bone generation as a scaffold on which adipose mesenchymal stem cells can expand and allow for endochondral ossification. The researchers showed how adipose tissue could be used in this way, through what they termed Adiscaf, to successfully generate cartilage tissue and eventually bone tissue formation. The bone tissue that formed through this process contained bone marrow elements, further demonstrating the bone’s integrity and the promise of this procedure.
Compared to other strategies for building scaffolding, this strategy appeared successful because by using adipose tissue, the adipose stem cells were exposed to their native environment and therefore likely maintained functions they otherwise may not have. Not only will these findings help to solidify our understanding of how to nurture stem cells and enable them to differentiate in ways that can be therapeutically applicable, but they also specifically show how adipose tissue may be able to be used to generate a bone organ through endochondral ossification. Future research will likely help to clarify how these findings can be applied to patients to improve bone healing.
by admin | Nov 12, 2018 | Adipose, Aesthetics
Adipose mesenchymal stromal cells, or adipose stem cells, were discovered in 2001 and have since been heavily researched for their potential use in plastic surgery. The abundance of research and the positive clinical findings have resulted in these cells being increasingly used in plastic surgery and have helped plastic surgery move to the forefront of regenerative medicine. A recent review has summarized research into adipose mesenchymal stromal cells and their applications in plastic surgery.
One of the things that make adipose mesenchymal stromal cells so valuable for plastic surgery is that these cells can overcome challenges observed with other stem cells. Much of the reason for the ability of adipose stem cells to provide better outcomes than other stem cell types are their regenerative properties. The stromal vascular fraction that includes all adipose tissue cells except the adipocytes is becoming used more and more for grafting and replacing fat grafting because of its great potential for tissue regeneration. In addition to grafting, adipose stem cells are showing promise in wound healing and recovery from tissue damage and scarring.
Unlike some other stem cells types that are more challenging to harvest, adipose stem cells can be relatively easily retrieved by performing liposuction, which requires only local anesthesia and can be completed without causing scarring. Now that the potential of adipose stem cells is being realized, the authors of the recent review suggest that new protocols should be developed and solidified to help define how exactly these cells can reliably be used in regenerative medicine generally – and in plastic surgery specifically. As more research is conducted and clinical applications are observed through case studies, these protocols will evolve, and our ability to use adipose stem cells to treat patients will improve and expand.
by admin | Oct 30, 2018 | Studies, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy
Spinal cord injury is the second leading cause of paralysis in the United States. When the spinal cord is severely injured, nerve cells in the spinal cord are damaged or destroyed. Also, a sort of scar forms in the affected area, which prevents nerve signals from traveling between the brain and the extremities. Consequently, people who sustain spinal cord injuries suffer from paralysis. The degree of paralysis depends on the location of the spinal cord injury; injuries higher on the spinal cord such as the neck or upper back area can lead to paralysis of all four limbs, for example. In almost all cases, the paralysis is permanent once it occurs, because nerve cells in the spinal cord do not regenerate.
Because spinal cord injuries are common and the consequences are usually permanent, researchers have been aggressively and tirelessly researching ways to treat this condition. One approach is to try to form new nerve cells in the spinal cord using stem cells. Mesenchymal stem cells can become new nerve cells given the right set of circumstances. Unfortunately, simply injecting mesenchymal stem cells into patients with severe spinal cord injuries cannot reverse paralysis. On the other hand, using exosomes from mesenchymal stem cells may be the push that stem cells need to become nerve cells in the spinal cord.
Exosomes are tiny packets of cellular material released by stem cells. They contain a variety of potentially beneficial substances; perhaps the most important in cell regeneration is micro RNA (miRNA). miRNA can cause complex changes in cells that simple drugs, proteins, or even regular RNA cannot. Researchers cannot easily deliver miRNA to where it is needed in the body, but exosomes taken from stem cells can deliver miRNA right where it needs to be.
Researchers collected human mesenchymal stem cells and placed them in an environment that would cause them to become nerve cells. But instead of simply using the stem cells directly, they instead collected the exosomes from those stem cells. Those exosomes could then be used to prompt mesenchymal stem cells to become nerve cells. Simply put, the exosomes drove the process more efficiently than the stem cells alone.
What does this all mean? Exosomes taken from the mesenchymal stem cells could eventually be used to treat spinal cord injury. Those special exosomes would magnify the nerve cell-creating effect, perhaps restoring nerve cell function to a damaged spinal cord. Considerable research needs to be done before this possibility becomes a clinical reality, but this knowledge helps researchers design targeted experiments in the future.
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