BioEden – Autistic Children’s Early Success Stories From Tooth Stem Cells – PR Newswire (press release)

- More and more people retrieve their banked cells and benefit from clinical treatments

Twenty individuals, ranging from the ages of 2 to 43, have become the first to use stem cells from their teeth in the treatment of various conditions including cerebral palsy, diabetes, cleft lip, and autism. The cells in use are dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) - the richest source of MSCs in the body - extracted from the likes of exfoliated incisors, deciduous or baby, and wisdom teeth.

All patients report no adverse reactions, with several experiencing huge improvements in their conditions. To date, all treatments worked as well if not better than traditional treatments, but by far the most promising results are being seen in children with autism.

A complex behavioural disorder that affects 1 in every 100 people in the UK, autism is one of the biggest challenges that faces modern medicine today. Not only do symptoms manifest differently in each patient, but there is no one definitive cause. To treat an individual requires a tailored combination of therapies and medications - often meaning years of harsh drugs and hours of intensive behavioural therapy.

Many experts believe stem cell therapy can change that, or at least help children along the way, and several recent studies are proving their intentions are more than good-hearted. Their case is based on the rationale that autism is caused, in part, by inflammation in the body. And a particular type of stem cells, known as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), is able to reduce that inflammation.

Our teeth are not only richer in MSCs than bone marrow or cord blood, but the process of extraction also costs less and can be done so non-invasively, using naturally fallen teeth. This makes it an easy and completely pain-free process. You don't even have to see the inside of a hospital or clinic - just send the tooth to the bank, and they will do the rest.

And that's exactly what the parents of five children with autism did. Having originally sent teeth of all shapes and sizes to BioEden, the world's first tooth stem cell bank, they've now retrieved their cells and the children are involved in various stages of cell-based therapies.

Reports from one 11-year-old show how developmental markers across the board improved after just 10 weeks of treatment. Progress has been made in language, driving motility, communication with the environment, and memory and retention, and they're getting ready for their second round of treatment this year.

In another case of an 11-year-old, the child didn't speak before the treatment but now has a vocabulary of 15 words. Other improvements among the five children include better memory, mobility, and bodily control, more energy, a new sensitivity to pain, and physical growth. It's clear autism responds well to tooth cells.

Tooth stem cell banking offers patients a convenient and risk-free alternative to cord blood banking for example and bone marrow aspiration. By not throwing away those shedded baby teeth and instead sending them to a specialist tooth bank, you can arm yourself with a powerful resource and help safeguard a children's future health.

BioEden is a specialist banking facility that does not directly participate in or encourage its customers to seek therapies. The determination as to whether stem cell therapy may be useful to treat a particular condition is a decision that must be made between the patient and their treating physician.

Contact: Leon Staff Tel.: +44-208-4770-336 Email: info@bioeden.co.uk

Website: http://www.bioeden.com

SOURCE BioEden

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BioEden - Autistic Children's Early Success Stories From Tooth Stem Cells - PR Newswire (press release)

Donor appeal as baby Austin Brown awaits stem cell treatment – Kent Online

A six-month-old boy with a one-in-a-million blood disorder has found the match he needed for a potentially life-saving stem cell transplant.

Austin Brown was born with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and is being treated at Great Ormond Hospital with regular blood transfusions.

But until recently his family still needed to find a healthy person with the same tissue type willing to help replace and repair his damaged cells.

Parents Lewis and Kasia, of Lower Higham Road, Gravesend, enlisted the help of blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan to find a suitable donor.

Austin is half Polish, and his donor is most likely to have a similar background to him, said Mr Brown.

The details of what happens next are being worked out but in the meantime the family is calling for other people to help those in need.

Mr Brown added: My wife and I are calling on everyone to please join the Anthony Nolan register.

You will have an eternally grateful father and mother for the remainder of your life.

The family finally found a donor this week. Mr Brown couldnt be a donor for his son because he has epilepsy, but has been doing his bit by putting on events to raise awareness of Anthony Nolans work.

On Monday, June 19, he will play 72 holes of golf in one day at Deangate Ridge Golf & Sports Complex.

He hopes it will be the first of many events to raise both awareness and money for the charity.

He continued: Austin is full of beans. You would never know, to look at him, theres anything wrong with him. Hes nearly crawling.

When he reaches milestones like that and you share little moments as a family its truly like a ray of sunshine.

Money raised for Anthony Nolan funds research to make bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants more successful, pays for donors to be tissue-typed, and gathers vital information for patients and families in need.

The charity was named after a boy of the same name who died from the same condition that Austin has back in 1971.

It was set up by his mother after the difficulty she had in finding a suitable donor.

If you are aged between 16 and 30, you can join the charitys register online at anthonynolan.org.

To donate to Mr Browns campaign, visit the family's JustGiving site.

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Donor appeal as baby Austin Brown awaits stem cell treatment - Kent Online

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo makes medical history with ‘giraffe sneakers,’ stem cell treatments – Colorado Springs Gazette

Twiga, a 14-year-old female giraffe with advanced arthritis and osteoporosis in her feet, was fitted with custom shoes. (Photo courtesy of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.)

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo appears to have made medical history with its innovative giraffe treatments.

Mahali, a 14-year-old male giraffe who suffered from chronic lameness, is believed to be the first in the world to be injected with stem cells grown from giraffe blood, according to a news release from the zoo.

Stem cell therapy was chosen in the treatments led by Dr. Liza Dadone, the zoo's head veterinarian, because it has proven to repair damaged tissue. Staff at Colorado State University's James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Fort Collins helped with the treatment.

Nearly a month after the procedure, when Mahali was injected with about 100 million stem cells, thermographic images of the giraffe's front legs show "a considerable decline" in inflammation in his front left leg, the leg that had been giving him trouble, the zoo said.

"This is meaningful to us not only because it is the first time a giraffe has been treated with stem cells, but especially because it is bringing Mahali some arthritis relief and could help other giraffes in the near future," Dadone said in a written statement.

Dadone said it's not clear whether the successful results are due only to the stem cell treatment or a combination of treatments.

"Prior to the procedure, he was favoring his left front leg and would lift that foot off the ground almost once per minute," she said in the statement. "During the immobilization, we did multiple treatments that included hoof trims, stem cell therapy and other medications. "Since then, Mahali is no longer constantly lifting his left front leg off the ground and has resumed cooperating for hoof care. A few weeks ago, he returned to life with his herd, including yard access. On the thermogram, the marked inflammation up the leg has mostly resolved."

Twiga, a 14-year-old female giraffe with advanced arthritis and osteoporosis in her feet, was fitted with custom shoes with the help of farriers Steve Foxworth and Chris Niclas of the Equine Lameness Prevention Organization.

"We've had Twiga on medicine to help reverse her osteoporosis, but we wanted to do more to protect her feet. So with the help of the farriers, we gave her 'giraffe sneakers' to help give her some extra cushion," Dadone said in a written statement.

The giraffe's behavior was immediately changed - "Twiga instantly shifted her weight off of her right foot, indicating she was comfortable and her pain had considerably lessened" - but she will likely wear the shoes for about six more weeks, the zoo said.

Giraffes' size can make them more susceptible to issues like arthritis and osteoporosis. "Like all animals, these issues are exacerbated as they age," according to the zoo news release.

The zoo has a herd of 17 giraffes, including a newborn in April. The calf, a girl, was the 199th to be born in the 63-year history of the zoo's breeding program.

Giraffes' status was recently changed from "least concern" to "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature because the population in the wild has decreased by 40 percent in the last 30 years, the zoo said.

-

Contact Ellie Mulder: 636-0198

Twitter: @lemarie

Continued here:
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo makes medical history with 'giraffe sneakers,' stem cell treatments - Colorado Springs Gazette

New baldness cause accidentally discovered by scientists could lead to hair loss treatment – The Independent

A new cause of baldness has been accidentally discovered by scientists in the US in a breakthrough that could help develop a way to regrow hair.

The researchers were investigating the role played by anti-inflammatory immune cells called Tregs in skin health generally.

They found a way to temporarily remove the Tregs from the skin of laboratory mice, who had been shaved to allow the effects to be observed.

But the scientists then noticed something unexpected the hairfailed to grow back.

Previously it was thought that stem cells cause hairs to regrow after they fall out, but the team discoveredthat this only happens if Tregs are present.

One of the scientists, Professor Michael Rosenblum, an immunologist and dermatologist at University of California San Francisco, said: Our hair follicles are constantly recycling. When a hair falls out, the whole hair follicle has to grow back.

This has been thought to be an entirely stem cell-dependent process, but it turns out Tregs are essential.

If you knock out this one immune cell type, hair just doesn't grow.

Its as if the skin stem cells and Tregs have co-evolved, so that the Tregs not only guard the stem cells against inflammation but also take part in their regenerative work.

The stem cells rely on the Tregs completely to know when it's time to start regenerating.

The researcher believe that defects in Tregs could be responsible for the immune disease, alopecia areata, which causes hair to fall out in patches and possibly also play a part in other kinds of baldness.

The same stem cells that regrow hair are also involved in healing damage to the skin, so Tregs may also be involved in this process.

Tregs role as previously understood was mainly to regulate the immune system, helping it tell what to attack and what to leave alone.

When they malfunction it can lead to allergies to peanuts and other harmless substances or cause the immune system to attack the body.

Professor Rosenblum and colleagues had previously showed that Tregs help the immune systems of baby mice learn which skin microbes are not harmful and also that they secrete molecules that help heal wounds.

They were investigating these effects further when they noticed that patches of shaved hair on the lab mice were not regrowing.

We thought, Hmm, now thats interesting, Professor Rosenblum said. We realised we had to delve into this further.

Using sophisticated imaging techniques, the researchers were able to show that Tregs gathered around follicle stem cells at the start of the process to regrow a hair.

When Tregs were removed from the skin, this prevented the regrowth of hair but only if this was done within three days of the hair being shaved. After this time, the hair would regrow normally despite the absence of Tregs.

The cause of alopecia is poorly understood, but previous studies have showed genes associated with the condition are mostly related to Tregs. Boosting Treg function has been found to help.

Professor Rosenblum suggested further research into Tregs role could lead to improved treatments for hair loss generally and better understanding of their role in wound healing.

We think of immune cells as coming into a tissue to fight infection, while stem cells are there to regenerate the tissue after it's damaged, he said.

But what we found here is that stem cells and immune cells have to work together to make regeneration possible.

The research was described in the journal Cell.

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New baldness cause accidentally discovered by scientists could lead to hair loss treatment - The Independent

Cold virus, stem cells tested to destroy deadly brain cancer – Medical Xpress

May 25, 2017 by Kristin Samuelson Killer T cells surround a cancer cell. Credit: NIH

A first-of-a-kind neural stem cell therapy that works with a common cold virus to seek out and attack a lethal and aggressive brain cancer is being tested at Northwestern Medicine in a Phase I clinical trial for patients newly diagnosed with malignant glioma.

The novel drug to treat malignant glioma, notorious for recurring after typical bouts of standard cancer treatment, was developed by a Northwestern scientist and has been approved as an investigational drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This is only the second time the University has supported and filed an investigational new drug as a sponsor.

"We have discovered that combining stem cells with a virus causes the new drug to react like a cancer-seeking missile targeting cancerous cells in the brain" said principal investigator, Dr. Maciej Lesniak, the Michael J. Marchese Professor and chair of neurological surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a neuro-oncologist at Northwestern Medicine. "If it works in humans, it could be a powerful weapon against brain cancer and an option that our patients are desperate for."

One reason malignant glioma recurs so often is because a small subpopulation of cancer cells, often deep in the brain tissue, is highly resistant to chemotherapy and radiation.

The pre-clinical work done by Lesniak and his team has shown that the approach being tested at Northwestern Medicine can target this population of therapy resistant cells, further delaying and sometimes even preventing tumor recurrence.

The stem cells used in the research came from a collaboration of researchers from City of Hope.

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"We haven't seen significant progress in the last decade for patients with a brain tumor, and that is why it's crucial to do everything we can to find a better treatment for brain tumors," said Dr. Roger Stupp, a co-investigator who is working alongside Lesniak on this clinical trial. "Combining novel therapy with medical expertise, we are able to get one step closer to eradicating this lethal disease."

Stupp, a world-renowned neuro-oncologist, recently joined Northwestern Medicine as director of neuro-oncology and associate director for strategic initiatives at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. He is best known for developing temozolomide in combination with radiation as the standard-of-care chemotherapy for patients with glioblastoma.

Lesniak and his team of scientists are starting to test the safety and dosage of the treatment in patients at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Lesniak began the research more than a decade ago while at the University of Chicago and completed it when he moved to Northwestern in 2015.

This investigational new drug contains neural stem cells to deliver a potent virus responsible for the common cold, oncolyotic adenovirus, which is engineered to kill brain cancer cells. The novel treatment works synergistically with chemotherapy and radiation to enhance the standard cancer treatments effectiveness.

Malignant gliomas are the most aggressive forms of cancer and are predicted to affect nearly 20,000 new patients this year, according to the American Brain Tumor Association. Sometimes called the "grow-and-go" tumors, gliomas can make their own blood supply, which fuels the tumors' rapid growth and helps them hatch satellite tumors. Each tumor sends out tentacles that infiltrate and dig deep into normal brain tissue, making complete removal of cancerous cells impossible. Any cancerous cells in the brain left over from standard of care can cause the tumor to recur.

Lesniak plans to enroll up to 36 newly diagnosed patients with glioma. These patients will be divided into two groups: those with tumors that can be removed and those where the tumors are not removable by surgery.

Next step, Northwestern Memorial will extend this research to the collaborating partners at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, California.

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A first-of-a-kind neural stem cell therapy that works with a common cold virus to seek out and attack a lethal and aggressive brain cancer is being tested at Northwestern Medicine in a Phase I clinical trial for patients ...

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Cold virus, stem cells tested to destroy deadly brain cancer - Medical Xpress

‘Sneakers,’ stem cells help heal Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s giraffes – Colorado Springs Gazette

Twiga, a 14-year-old female giraffe with advanced arthritis and osteoporosis in her feet, was fitted with custom shoes. (Photo courtesy of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.)

Two medical breakthroughs have helped heal two giraffes at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in recent weeks, the zoo announced Wednesday.

Mahali, a 14-year-old male giraffe who suffered from chronic lameness and had not been moving well, is believed to be the first in the world to be injected with stem cells grown from giraffe blood, according to a news release from the zoo.

Stem cell therapy was chosen in the efforts led by Dr. Liza Dadone, the zoo's head veterinarian, because it has proven to repair damaged tissue. Staff at Colorado State University's James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Fort Collins helped with the treatment.

Nearly a month after the procedure, when Mahali was injected with about 100 million stem cells, thermographic images of the giraffe's front legs show "a considerable decline" in inflammation in his front left leg, the leg that had been giving him trouble, the zoo said.

"This is meaningful to us not only because it is the first time a giraffe has been treated with stem cells, but especially because it is bringing Mahali some arthritis relief and could help other giraffes in the near future," Dadone said in a written statement.

Dadone said it's not clear whether the successful results are due only to the stem cell treatment or a combination of treatments.

"Prior to the procedure, he was favoring his left front leg and would lift that foot off the ground almost once per minute," she said in the statement. "During the immobilization, we did multiple treatments that included hoof trims, stem cell therapy and other medications. Since then, Mahali is no longer constantly lifting his left front leg off the ground and has resumed cooperating for hoof care. A few weeks ago, he returned to life with his herd, including yard access. On the thermogram, the marked inflammation up the leg has mostly resolved."

Twiga, a 14-year-old female giraffe with advanced arthritis and osteoporosis in her feet, was fitted with custom shoes with the help of farriers Steve Foxworth and Chris Niclas of the Equine Lameness Prevention Organization.

"We've had Twiga on medicine to help reverse her osteoporosis, but we wanted to do more to protect her feet. So with the help of the farriers, we gave her 'giraffe sneakers' to help give her some extra cushion," Dadone said in a written statement.

The giraffe's behavior was immediately changed - "Twiga instantly shifted her weight off of her right foot, indicating she was comfortable and her pain had considerably lessened" - but she will likely wear the shoes for about six more weeks, the zoo said.

Giraffes' size can make them more susceptible to issues like arthritis and osteoporosis. "Like all animals, these issues are exacerbated as they age," according to the zoo news release.

The zoo has a herd of 17 giraffes, including a newborn in April. The calf, a girl, was the 199th to be born in the 63-year history of the zoo's breeding program.

Giraffes' status was recently changed from "least concern" to "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature because the population in the wild has decreased by 40 percent in the last 30 years, the zoo said.

-

Contact Ellie Mulder: 636-0198

Twitter: @lemarie

Here is the original post:
'Sneakers,' stem cells help heal Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's giraffes - Colorado Springs Gazette

How a revolutionary stem cell treatment could save your heart – Express.co.uk

NC

Yet today the 59-year-old father of two is planning a dream family trip to South Africa, something that would have been unthinkable a mere nine months ago.

The reason for this remarkable transformation is that last September Gordon, who suffered from severe heart failure after a series of heart attacks, underwent revolutionary stem cell therapy to repair the diseased muscle tissue in his heart.

I couldnt walk up the stairs without having stabbing pains in my heart and burning in my lungs. Sometimes I had to crawl for the last few steps.

I felt so low and helpless, says Gordon, who is married to Joanne, 50, and lives in Thorneholme, East Yorkshire.

Within a week of the operation I could climb the stairs again. Small things like that have made a huge difference to my life.

More than a million people in the UK suffer from heart disease. The general term for heart disease is cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the walls of the heart chambers have become stretched, thickened or stiff.

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This affects the hearts ability to pump blood around the body. Some types of cardiomyopathy are inherited and it can affect children and younger people.

I couldnt walk up the stairs without having stabbing pains

Gordon Foster

In others, lifestyle factors such as smoking, an unhealthy diet or a sedentary lifestyle can be to blame. There is no cure and although it can be treated with drugs such as ACE inhibitors, they often have side effects and arent a permanent solution.

In Gordons case his condition was the result of a series of heart attacks, the first of which struck when he was 30.

I woke up one morning feeling horribly sick so I ran to the bathroom. I was banging my head on the floor to try to get rid of the pain in my chest, he recalls. Everybody thought I was a goner because it was such a massive heart attack.

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10 Step plan to eliminate your risk of heart disease

Joanne and I got married two months later because she was worried I might not live until our wedding date.

However he did survive and he and Joanne went on to have two children, James, now 26, and Rebekah, 24. Then when James was just a year old Gordon had another heart attack and three years later, aged 37, he suffered a third.

He was diagnosed as suffering from heart failure which most commonly occurs following a heart attack when the heart muscle suffers irreparable damage.

Symptoms can include fatigue, shortness of breath and swelling. In severe cases people with heart failure are left unable to perform ordinary, day-to-day activities such as walking upstairs or are left breathless even when resting.

GETTY

By 2012 Gordons heart was functioning at just 17 per cent and he had been forced to retire on heart attack and three years later, aged 37, he suffered a third. from heart failure which most commonly occurs following a heart attack when the heart muscle suffers irreparable damage.

Symptoms can include fatigue, shortness of breath and swelling. failure are left unable to perform ordinary, day-to-day activities such as walking upstairs or are left breathless even when resting.

Functioning at just 17 per cent and he had been forced to retire on medical grounds from his job overseeing welding and fabricating sites.

For severely affected patients a heart transplant can be the only option but the chances of failure are high. Around 10 per cent of transplant patients die within a year of the operation and 25 per cent die within five years.

The need for treatment in this field has never been greater, says Professor Anthony Mathur, consultant cardiologist at St Bartholomews Hospital, London.

Now stem cell therapy is offering new hope to desperate patients and their families. The procedure involves extracting stem cells from bone marrow in the spine and injecting them into the heart.

Researchers hope that the stem cells, which are unique because they can grow into any type of body tissue, will grow into healthy heart cells and take over the work of the diseased or damaged ones.

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The procedure takes about 20 minutes and patients can usually go home the following day. Gordon became the first man in the UK to be offered the operation under the Compassionate Treatment Programme funded by the Heart Cells Foundation charity at St Bartholomews Hospital after his doctor put him forward to take part in a trial.

The charity has so far raised more than 6.5million to fund the Stem Cell Research Programme and is campaigning to raise further cash to treat thousands more patients.

Stem cell therapy is still in the development and research stage and the Compassionate Treatment Programme is funded purely by the Heart Cells Foundation charity, says its chairman Jenifer Rosenberg.

To treat one person costs 10,000 so we need the continued support of our donors to save lives.

Getty Images

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Queen Elizabeth II visits a ward during a tour of Great Ormond Street Hospital for sick children, 23rd July 1952

The treatment is currently in the second phase of clinical trials and phase three will start once funding is secured. If this is successful it is hoped that the treatment could eventually be offered on the NHS.

Gordon says he and his family will be forever thankful to the Heart Cells Foundation and his medical team at St Bartholemews for saving his life.

Without them, I believe I wouldnt be here today, he says. Im now able to lead a near-normal life and Im enjoying every moment I spend with my wife and children. I now live every day with hope.

Visit heartcellsfoundation.com

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How a revolutionary stem cell treatment could save your heart - Express.co.uk

Success of stem cell therapy for diabetes depends on pre-transplant immune condition – Medical Xpress

May 24, 2017

An innovative method for treating type 1 diabetes based on the transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells taken from the patient's own bone marrow began undergoing testing in Brazil 13 years ago. The results were highly variable. While some of the volunteers were able to stop self-injecting insulin for more than a decade, others had to resume use of the medication only a few months after receiving the experimental treatment.

A possible explanation for this discrepancy in the clinical outcome for the 25 patients included in the study was presented in an article published recently in the journal Frontiers in Immunology. According to the authors, the duration of the therapeutic effect was shorter in the patients whose immune systems had attacked the pancreatic cells more aggressively in the pre-transplantation period.

This research was conducted at the Center for Cell-Based Therapy (CTC) in Brazil. Initially led by immunologist Julio Voltarelli, who died in March 2012, it is proceeding under the coordination of researchers Maria Carolina de Oliveira Rodrigues and Belinda Pinto Simes.

"Because type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, the aim of the treatment is to 'switch off' the immune system temporarily using chemotherapy drugs and 'restart' it by means of the transplantation of autologous hematopoietic stem cells, which can differentiate into every kind of blood cell," Rodrigues explained.

By the time the symptoms of type 1 diabetes appear, she added, around 80 percent of the patient's pancreatic islets have already been damaged. If the autoimmune aggression is interrupted at this point, and the remaining cells are protected, the patient can produce an amount of insulin that is small but nevertheless important.

"Studies with animals and diabetic humans suggest the percentage of insulin-producing cells declines sharply, reaching almost zero between six and eight weeks after diagnosis. Our center has therefore set a six-week limit for patients to start the transplantation process," Rodrigues said.

Twenty-five volunteers aged between 12 and 35 were initially included in the study. The therapeutic effect has lasted an average of 42 months (3.5 years) but ranges overall from six months to 12 years, the longest follow-up period so far. Three patients remain completely insulin-free. One has been insulin-free for ten years, another for 11, and the third for 12.

"In this more recent study, we compared the profiles of the volunteers who remained insulin-free for less than and more than 42 months, which was our cutoff point," Rodrigues said.

The variables considered included age, time between diagnosis and transplantation, pre-treatment insulin dose, and post-transplant recovery of defense cells.

"We observed no significant differences between the groups for any of these factors," Rodrigues said. "The only exception was the degree of pancreatic inflammation before the transplant, which did vary significantly."

This discovery was made possible by collaboration with Dutch researcher Bart Roep at the Leiden University Medical Center. Roep's analysis of blood samples taken from all 25 patients before treatment and once per year after the transplant enabled him to quantify their autoreactive T-lymphocytes, white cells that recognize and specifically attack proteins secreted by pancreatic islets.

"This method enabled us to evaluate the extent to which the immune system was attacking the pancreas," Rodrigues said. "We observed a clear association between a larger number of autoreactive lymphocytes before transplantation and a worse response to treatment."

In the group of patients who responded well, Rodrigues went on, stem cell therapy rebalanced the immune system thanks to an increase in the proportion of regulatory T-cells (Tregs), a type of white cell with immunosuppressive action that helps combat autoimmunity.

"In patients with more autoreactive lymphocytes before transplantation, this balance didn't occur," she said. "Despite the increase in the number of Tregs due to the treatment, they were still outnumbered by autoreactive lymphocytes. What we don't yet know is whether these were new cells that differentiated from transplanted stem cells or were a remnant of the autoreactive lymphocytes that weren't destroyed by chemotherapy and resumed multiplication."

Data from the scientific literature show that the latter hypothesis is more plausible, so the group at CTC has begun a second study in which patients are being subjected to more aggressive chemotherapy with the aim of ensuring that no vestiges of autoreactive T-lymphocytes remain.

Explore further: Novel tissue-engineered islet transplant achieves insulin independence in type 1 diabetes

More information: Kelen C. R. Malmegrim et al. Immunological Balance Is Associated with Clinical Outcome after Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Type 1 Diabetes, Frontiers in Immunology (2017). DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00167

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Success of stem cell therapy for diabetes depends on pre-transplant immune condition - Medical Xpress

Stem Cell Therapy is One Step Closer to Becoming Law in Texas – PR Newswire (press release)

"At StemGenex, we are committed to helping people achieve optimum health and better quality of life through the healing benefits of their own stem cells," said Alexander. "Specifically, we use adipose-derived adult stem cell therapy for patients battling conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, COPD, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis. We are also committed to the science of stem cell therapy and sponsor five clinical outcome studiesregistered with theNational Institute of Health (NIH) for these diseases."

"What I personally witnessed before the start of StemGenex were patients who had exhausted conventional medical treatments but wanted to try alternative therapies. I was one of them, suffering from severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. Ihad only three options; I could seek a clinical trial, travel to outside of the U.S. to try alternative therapies such as stem cell treatment or petition the FDA for access to drugs under the agency's "expanded access," or "compassionate use" program. Now, new state laws, built on model legislation from the Goldwater Institute in Arizona, will potentially allow doctors and patients to make their own informed decisions on treatments that have cleared the safety phase of FDA testing."

Last year, in a move that was seen by some as a response to "Right to Try" laws, the 21st Century Cures Act, a landmark piece of legislation focused on medical innovation and medical research, was signed into law by President Obama. This Act provides the FDA with the flexibility to accelerate how it evaluates regenerative medicine treatments, such as stem cell therapies, while maintaining its high standards of safety and efficacy.

"We're on the cusp of a major change on how patients can access stem cell therapy," saidAlexander. "Today, new treatments and advances in research are giving new hope to people affected by a wide range of autoimmune and degenerative illnesses," said Alexander. "StemGenex Medical Group is proud to offer the highest quality of care and to potentially help those with unmet clinical needs improve their quality of life."

ABOUT StemGenex Medical Group StemGenex Medical Group is committed to helping people achieve optimum health and better quality of life through the healing benefits of their own stem cells. StemGenex provides stem cell therapy options for individuals suffering with inflammatory and degenerative illnesses. Committed to the science and innovation of stem cell treatment,StemGenex sponsors five clinical outcome studiesregistered with theNational Institutes of Health ("NIH") for Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ("COPD") and Osteoarthritis. These have been established to formally document and evaluate the quality of life changes in individuals following adipose-derived stem cell treatment.

Contact: Jamie Schubert, Director of Media & Community Relations jschubert@StemGenex.com, (858) 242-4243

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SOURCE StemGenex

http://www.stemgenex.com

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Stem Cell Therapy is One Step Closer to Becoming Law in Texas - PR Newswire (press release)

Stem cell treatments ready to replace medicine in 10 years: Expert – Jakarta Post

Currently, there are only 11 hospitals that are authorized to give stem cell treatments in Indonesia. (Shutterstock/File)

Developments in science and technology have enabled humankind to achieve the unthinkable, including advancements in healthcare. In the next 10 years, patients may not even need medicine to cure certain illnesses as reported by kompas.com.

Principal investigator of Stem Cell and Cancer Institute, Dr. Yuyus Kusnadi, said health scientists are developing stem cell treatments. Stem cells are cells with the ability to renew or regenerate any kind of cells.

Degenerative conditions such as kidney failure and the weakening of heart muscles in the future may be cured by injecting stem cells into the patients body.

Stem cells can be obtained from umbilical cord blood that is kept in a stem cell bank, back bone marrow and fat. However, fat and bone marrow will decline in quality as a person grows older. Stem cells stored in a stem cell bank can be used for future treatments if needed.

Read also: Scientists take first steps to growing human organs in pigs

Health treatments using stem cells exist today although they are not yet developed due to limitations in funding and technology. Yuyus said in Indonesia, those who are allowed stem cell treatment are those who have no option.

For now, stem cell treatment require a doctors approval. Its still subjective, he said.

For those with recommendations for stem cell treatment, the stem cell is obtained from blood or fat. Manipulation in the laboratory is needed to strengthen the stem cell.

Although stem cell treatments are not yet popular these days, Yuyus is optimistic, Lets wait five to ten more years. The current use of medicine only stops symptoms and does not fix the sickness, he said.

Stem cell treatments will not be cheap either, as it will cost patients up to hundreds of millions of rupiah.

Currently, there are only 11 hospitals that are authorized to give stem cell treatments in Indonesia. The hospitals right to provide stem cell treatments is regulated in the Health Ministers Regulation no. 32, 2014 on the Incorporation of Medical Research Service and Education of Tissue and Stem Cell Centers.

Hospitals authorized to provide stem cell treatments in Indonesia include Rumah Sakit Cipto Mangun Kusumo, RS. Sutomo, RS M. Djamil, RS. Persahabatan, RS. Fatmawati, RS. Dharmais, RS. Harapan Kita, RS. Hasan Sadikin, RS. Kariadi, RS. Sardjito and RS. Sanglah. (asw)

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Stem cell treatments ready to replace medicine in 10 years: Expert - Jakarta Post