• Research shows cord blood comparable to matched bone marrow
• First embryonic stem-cell-based therapy trial in spinal-cord injury gets FDA approval
• Canadian scientists deliver on promise of stem cell therapy for lung disease
• Expanding natural killer cells in cord blood to fight Leukemia
• Stem cell-based therapy may be able to treat Muscular Dystrophy
• Umbilical cord blood may help build new heart valves
• Stem cell generation from ordinary cells now safe
• Scientists turn human skin cells into insulin-producing cells
• Bone marrow stem cells used to regenerate skin

• Role of stem cells in renewing the cornea
• Stem cell "living bandage" heals knee injuries
• Patent rules force stem-cell research to seek alternatives
• Vatican denounces embryo research
• The International Tissue Engineering Research Association (ITERA) recommends public-shared banking of umbilical cord blood stem cells
• First windpipe transplant using stem cells
• Internet stem-cell clinics "exploiting" Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's patients
• British firm allowed using aborted stem cells in stroke test
• Researchers to use patient's own stem cells to treat heart failure

Research shows cord blood comparable to matched bone marrow 

University of Minnesota researchers report that umbilical cord blood transplants may offer blood cancer patients better outcomes than bone marrow transplants.

This is the first study that directly compares matched bone marrow, which is currently considered the preferred graft, with matched and mismatched umbilical cord blood.

The investigators compared outcomes of pediatric leukemia patients who received unrelated bone marrow transplants with those who received umbilical cord transplants. While all bone marrow donors were matched, nearly all cord blood donors were mismatched. Remarkably, mismatched cord blood performed as well as matched bone marrow as measured by leukemia-free survival rates, providing the degree of mismatch was limited and the number of cord blood cells available was sufficient. Furthermore, study participants who received matched cord blood had a 20 percent higher survival rate than matched bone marrow recipients, though the number of matched cord blood transplants was small.

While the study showed that umbilical cord blood took longer to rebuild the blood-making cells in the body, it was associated with a lower risk of graft versus host disease.

Rates of leukemia relapse also are lower with mismatched umbilical cord blood transplants.

The research suggests that it will become more important to invest in cord blood banks that meet certain standards in relation to cell dose and human leukocyte antigen diversity.

More information can be found at: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/73590.php

First Embryonic Stem-Cell-Based Therapy Trial in Spinal
-Cord Injury Gets FDA Approval 

On January 23, 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration gave approval for a phase 1 trial of a cell therapy (GRNOPC1) derived from human embryonic stem cells in patients with acute spinal-cord injury. The types of cells to be used in the trial are neural stem cells called oligodendrocyte progenitor cells.

The main objective of the trial is to examine the safety of (GRNOPC1), but for one year after treatment the company will also look for any recovery of function and movement in the lower body lost through the injury. In all, the patients will be monitored for 15 years.

In previous research with these cells, the mobility of rats with hind leg paralysis was improved and post-mortems showed that the injected cells had multiplied in the injury site and restored lost connections. Also, infusion of these cells was not associated with teratoma formation up to 12 months after injection.

Once safety in patients has been established, the company plans to seek FDA approval both to increase the dose and to expand the study to include patients with cervical spinal injuries.

For more details about this trial, please go to: www.medscape.com/viewarticle/587411

Also you can visit: www.newscientist.com/article/dn16475-historic-trial-to-treat-spinal-injury-with-stem-cells.html

Canadian scientists deliver on promise of stem cell therapy for lung disease 

Two Quebecers suffering from pulmonary hypertension were treated in Montreal with their own gene-modified stem cells. The therapy is unique in the world as it is the only clinical study employing patient stem cells genetically modified for clinical use in lung disease. A team of scientists led by Dr. Jacques Galipeau, Hematologist and stem cell researcher at the Jewish General Hospital, a McGill University Teaching Hospital, genetically engineered the stem cells with synthetic DNA to produce nitric oxide, a critical molecule involved in the repair and protection of blood vessels. These cells were given in a heart catheterization suite, and lodged in the lung where it is hoped they will stimulate the repair and regeneration of blood vessels in the lung.

This procedure has cured laboratory rats with pulmonary hypertension, and this study in Canadian volunteers afflicted with pulmonary hypertension seeks to assess the safety of this type of stem cell treatment.

More to read about this topic is available at: www.newswire.ca/en /releases/archive/June2008/19/c5874.html 
(June 19, 2008)

Expanding Natural Killer Cells in Cord Blood to fight Leukemia 

Researchers from The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have found a novel process to increase the number of natural killer (NK) cells in cord blood more than 30-fold, generating more than 150 million NK cells from one cord blood unit while maintaining their activation to find and kill acute leukemia cells.

When given to mice with aggressive human leukemia, these NK cells reduced the circulating human acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) cells by 60 to 85 percent.

The NK cells have decreased potential to cause graft-versus-host disease; they target and kill cancer cells while leaving normal cells alone. “These results support the evaluation of cord blood-derived NK cells as a potential immuno-therapeutic approach in acute leukemias.” says Zweidler-McKay, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics from the Children’s Cancer Hospital at M.D.

For detailed information about this topic, you can visit: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/107898.php

Stem Cell-Based Therapy may be able to treat Muscular Dystrophy 

A team at the University of Texas Southwestern used genetic manipulation techniques to stimulate the production of a key chemical (Pax3) inside the embryonic stem cells (ESCs) that triggers their transformation into muscle cells, followed by cell sorting to purify the muscle-forming cells. This led to the formation of a muscle progenitor cell population in sufficient amounts to be then delivered through the circulation, targeting many more muscle locations than by intramuscular injection. This resulted in improved muscle function into a mouse model of Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy. The technique didn’t result in tumor formation owing to the partial differentiation of the isolated muscle progenitor cells, which has previously hampered the therapeutic use of ESCs.

While the genetic manipulation of the ESCs disallows this technique to be used in the clinic at this point, future studies may point to ways of inducing Pax3 expression in ESCs without the need of genetically modifying the cells.

You can read more about this subject by visiting: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080224141733.htm

Umbilical Cord blood may help build new heart valves 

A research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2008, showed that doctors at the University Hospital of Munich are growing new heart valves from adult stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood which are designated ultimately for the replacement of such defective heart valves in the earliest stages of a newborn’s life. The cells were seeded onto eight heart valve scaffolds constructed of a biodegradable material and then grown in a laboratory. Microscopic and biochemical examination showed that the cells had not only differentiated into cardiac tissue, survived and grown, but had produced the extracellular matrix necessary to tissue function and structure.

Each of the valves was tested for functional efficacy according to variations in blood flow volume and pressure, and all of which were found to mimic naturally occurring healthy valves. The next step will be done this year, involving implantation of the bioengineered valves into young lambs to test how the valves change in growth and function over several years.

More details about this topic could be found at: www.cellmedicine.com/cord-blood-heart-valves.asp

Stem cell generation from ordinary cells now safe 

Japanese researchers at Kyoto University invented a new way to transform ordinary cells into embryonic-like stem cells called iPS cells (induced pluripotent stem cells) using a ring of genetic material called a plasmid.

To transform ordinary cells into iPS, scientists use retroviruses to integrate their own genetic material into the cells they infect. This can be dangerous and can cause tumors. After trying several methods, the Japanese team looped three of the genes needed into one plasmid and the fourth into another, and transplanted these into cells from a mouse embryo. The mouse embryonic cells reverted to a stem-like state and began behaving like embryonic cells. Scientists said that this method was not efficient as using retroviruses but they plan to try their method using human cells.

To read more about this topic, please go to: www.reuters.com 

Scientists turn human skin cells into insulin-producing cells 

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel School of Medicine have transformed cells from human skin into insulin-producing cells which hold great therapeutic potential for diabetes.

The approach involves reprogramming skin cells into pluripotent stem cells and then inducing them to differentiate into cells that produce insulin.

Dr. John Buse, M.D., Ph.D., president of the American Diabetes Association said that many years of additional studies are required first, but this study provides hope for a cure for all patients with diabetes.

To get more information about this subject, please go to: www.stemcellnetwork.ca/news_020CT08_6.php

Bone marrow stem cells used to regenerate skin

 A new study published in Artificial Organs journal suggests that adult bone marrow stem cells can be used in the construction of artificial skin using engineering technology and biomedical theory methods.

To investigate the practicability of repairing burn wounds with tissue-engineered skin, the study established a burn wound model in the skin of pigs, once the artificial skin was attached and the dermal layer had begun to regenerate, stem cells were differentiated into skin cells. The cells are self-renewing and raise the quality of healing in wound healing therapy; when grafted, they showed better healing, less wound contraction and better development of blood vessels.

The lead author of the study Dr.Yan Jin of the Fourth Military Medical University said that they hope that engineered structural tissue will someday replace plastic and metal prostheses currently used to replace damaged joints and bones by suitable materials and stem cells.

To know more about this subject, you can visit: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090114160548.htm

Role of stem cells in renewing the cornea 

A group of researchers in Lausanne, Switzerland has published a study in the Journal Nature showing how the cornea uses stem cells to repair itself.

Using a mouse models they demonstrate that everyday wear and tear on the cornea is repaired from stem cells residing in the corneal epithelium, and that more serious repair jobs require the involvement of other stem cells that migrate from the limbus (the region between the cornea and the conjunctiva).

The researchers demonstrated that the epithelium of the cornea contains stem cells which have the capacity to generate two different epithelial tissues: corneal and conjunctival and a re activated in everyday corneal renewal.

Treatment options for partial or complete blindness due to corneal lesions involve corneal transplants and more recently stem cell therapy where stem cells ’source is the limbus.

The research indicates that the cornea itself can also be explored as a potential source of stem cells.

To get more information about this topic, please go to: www.stemcellnetwork.ca/news_02OCT08_1.php

Stem cell “living bandage” heals knee injuries 

Scientists at Bristol University have grown a “living bandage” from a patient’s own stem cells to heal a common sporting knee injury (tears to the meniscal cartilage which acts as a shock absorbing cushion between the bones of the upper and lower leg).

The scientists used the stem cells to coat a sponge-like scaffold made from collagen and placed it inside the tear in the cartilage; the stem cells pulled the two pieces of torn cartilage together.

Dr. Anthony Hollander, professor of rheumatology and tissue engineering said that they hope that in the patient they can reunite the cartilage in a strong enough way to heal the wound completely.

To read more about this subject you can visit: www.timeonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5163088.ece

Patent rules force stem-cell research to seek alternatives 

On November 25^th, 2008, the European Patent Office (EPO) has finally refused to grant a patent for stem cells that necessarily involved the destruction of a human embryo.

The European Patent Convention (EPC) is the overriding source of patent law for each of the 31 European states, including the UK. The EPC does not allow patenting inventions whose commercial exploitation would be contrary to public order or morality. Furthermore, the Convention prohibits patenting on uses of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes. 

IOMS’ “Stem Cell Seminar recommendations” regarding this issue are as follows:

-Stem cells themselves as well as all their types can not be patented. This is identical to the way that none of the phases of human growth can be patented – including the fetal stages. In the same manner, fetuses cannot be patented if they are to be used for industrial or commercial purposes; for they are creations of Allah.

-Methods of separating stem cells can be patented. Also, the methods of producing specific therapeutic stem cell lines can be patented.

-The seminar highly recommends making these techniques and products accessible to developing countries at affordable prices.

Please visit our website at www.islamset.org to get more information

Vatican denounces embryo research 

In a major new document on bioethics, the Vatican updated its opposition to embryonic stem-cell research, but it said adult stem cell research was allowed as the subject was unharmed by the process. 

In November 2007, IOMS held an international seminar “Dilemma of stem cells: Research, Future and Ethical Challenges” in Cairo, Egypt, in cooperation with the WHO regional office in Cairo; UNESCO; ISESCO; and the Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Highlights on IOMS recommendations regarding Stem Cell Research:

-There is no Islamic legal objection to conducting research on stem cells to produce body tissues with view to using them in the treatment of some diseases on condition that these cells are obtained from sources permitted by Islamic law.

-There is no Islamic legal objection to obtaining stem cells from adult donors on the condition of obtaining their informed consent together with the protection of their identity against DNA analysis.

-It is lawful to take adult stem cells from an adult person to plant them in the tissue of the same person’s organs to produce sperms in cases of aspermatism or oligospermia; this also applies to adult female eggs.

-Fertilized eggs surplus to the requirements of IVF don’t enjoy sanctity before implantation, hence using them for the purposes of treatment and scientific research is better than wasting them.

-It is prohibited to affect an intentional abortion; it should be confined to natural unintentional abortion and abortion for Islamic legally permitted reasons as saving the mother’s life.

-There is no Islamic legal objection to benefiting from the blood of the placenta or the umbilical cord. It is imperative to obtain the couple’s consent to using it after clarifying the aspects of its use along with a guarantee that donors are protected against DNA identification.

-It is not allowed to use primordial tissues of aborted fetuses for sperm production or use their ovaries for producing eggs. This is with the exception of using these eggs and sperms in research to unveil the reasons of female and male infertility or any other relevant problems.

-Stem cells are only to be used in medical fields, they are not to be used for the purposes of plastic surgery which is contrary to divine law and which alters Allah’s creation and tampers with it.

Please visit our website at www.islamset.org for more detailed information regarding this issue.

The International Tissue Engineering Research Association (ITERA) recommends Public-Shared banking of umbilical cord blood stem cells 

Eight of the leading scientists and clinicians from the field of stem cell research and stem cell therapy united in the course of the fourth ITERA workshop on October 14, 2008 and agreed on a consensus which includes storage and applications of umbilical cod derived stem cells.

All eight experts consented that the isolation of umbilical cord stem cells is harmless, easy and without risk for the mother or the child. They can be stored for many years and are immediately available when needed, possibly also for therapies that ate still to be developed. Umbilical cord stem cells can potentially be used on the child itself or on a related family member or unrelated patients.

Dr. Colin McGuckin, Professor of Regenerative Medicine at Newcastle University and member of the consensus board said that umbilical cord blood can be of use not only for potential transplants, but also for the development of defined tissues for making drugs and for toxicity testing, which is increasingly important for the creation of humanized drugs.

Storage can be provided by so called private/family banks or, in some countries, by public banks. A more modern approach, so called public-shared banking, might offer a good solution to fulfill the needs of individuals as well as the general public, so the expert panel agreed.

The consensus will serve as guidance for clinicians and the public to support well-informed decision-making.

You can visit www.itera-ls.org for more information.

IOMS’ stem cell seminar recommended that there is no Islamic legal objection to benefiting from the blood of the placenta or the umbilical cord and it is imperative to obtain the couple’s consent to using it after clarifying the aspects of its use with a guarantee that donors are protected against DNA identification.

First windpipe transplant using stem cells 

Surgeons in Spain have carried out the world’s first tissue-engineered whole organ transplant using a windpipe made with the patient’s own stem cells.

The doctors took a donor windpipe from a donor who recently died and used strong chemicals and enzymes to wash away all the donor cells leaving only a tissue scaffold made of fibrous tissue collagen. They repopulated the windpipe with stem cells taken from the patient’s bone marrow.

The patient is leading now an active normal life with no signs of her immune system rejecting the transplanted organ even though she received no immunosuppressive drugs.

Scientists are already looking to the future as they believe the same approach will be used in years to come to create engineered replacements for other damaged organs.

You can read more details about the technique involved in this procedure if you visit http://news.scotsman.com 

A number of stem cell treatments exist, although most are still experimental and/or costly, with the notable exception of bone marrow transplantation. Medical researchers anticipate one day being able to use technologies derived from adult and embryonic stem cell research to treat cancer, Type 1 diabetes mellitus, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, cardiac failure, muscle damage and neurological disorders.

To get more information about current and potential stem cell treatments you can visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell_treatments 

The trachea graft ready for transplantation

Internet stem-cell clinics “exploiting” Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s patients 

An investigation of 19 companies that promote stem cell therapy for debilitating diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s, has found that most make inflated and overoptimistic claims about benefits that are not backed by evidence, while making little or no mention of the risks.  The findings, from a team at the University of Alberta, Canada, have prompted the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), to advise patients and their families to approach stem-cell therapy with extreme caution.

Stem cell therapies are tightly controlled in North America, Britain and most of Europe, and only a few are approved for clinical use, mainly for leukaemia, blood disorders and burns. Companies based in countries such as China, Mexico and Russia, often promote them as treatments for MS, stroke, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

The ISSCR issued guidelines explaining to the public that many years of pre-clinical and clinical research will be needed to bring novel stem-cell-based therapies to fruition.

ISSCR urged the countries that lack regulatory system for stem-cell medicine to develop one, and offered its assistance with setting standards. It is also launching handbook for patients to help them to assess claims.

To read more about this topic, please go to: www.stemcellnetwork.ca/news_03DEC08_1.php

British firm allowed using aborted stem cells in stroke test 

Researchers for the first time in England will use stem cells derived from the brain and spinal cord to treat a major neurological disorder. The therapy comes from a stem-cell line grown from a tissue sample taken at least five years ago from the brain of an aborted fetus. The health and function of 12 patients who receive the experimental treatment will be tracked for six months to two years after being disabled by a stroke.

The British permission follows three failed attempts to get U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance to begin the trial. The company was ordered by North American regulators in September last year to halt human tests of their stroke therapy, which uses stroke patients’ own stem cells to stimulate growth of new brain cells, because of safety concerns.

Read more about the topic at: www.newsday.com  Health news on January 20, 2009

Researchers to use patient’s own stem cells to treat heart failure 

Patients with dilated cardiomyopathy will undergo a one-year Cardiac Repair Cell Treatment study at University of Utah. The study will look at the safety of injecting Cardiac Repair Cells and their ability to improve heart function.

The patients enrolled in the study will have their own marrow stem cells drawn, and then cultured to increase their number, after 2 weeks they will be injected directly into the left ventricle of the heart.

This trial is the first of its kind in the United States provided to patients who have limited to no other options with a viable treatment. Dr. Amit N. Patel, professor of surgery and director of cardiovascular regenerative medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine said that they hope the stem cells will help with new blood vessels and support the heart muscle to improve the heart’s function.

To read more about the subject, please visit: www.physorg.com/news146146097.html