Stem Cell Clinic

Autologous stem cell therapy improves motor function in chronic stroke victims

By Uncategorized

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Apr-2014

Contact: Robert Miranda cogcomm@aol.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair

Putnam Valley, NY. (Apr. 23, 2014) People who have had a stroke, often suffer motor deficits with little potential to restore neurological function. However, a study conducted in Taiwan, that will be published in a future issue of Cell Transplantation, but is currently freely available on-line as an unedited early e-pub at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/content-ct1168Chen, has found that when one group of stroke victims had their own peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) injected directly into the brain and a similar group did not, those who received the PBSCs experienced some "improvement in stroke scales and functional outcome." Those in the PBSC-injected group also received injections of the growth factor granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), known to be potentially neuroprotective.

"In this phase 2 study, we provide the first evidence that intracerebral injection of autologous (self-donated) PBSCs can improve motor function in those who have suffered a stroke and have motor deficits as a result," said study corresponding Dr. Woei-Cheng Shyu of the Center for Neuropsychiatry, Graduate Institute of Immunology and Translational Medicine Research Center, China Medical University in Taiwan. "Our study demonstrated that this therapeutic strategy was feasible and safe in stroke patients who suffered a prior stroke, but within five years from the onset of symptoms."

According to the authors, there has been little advance made in restoring neurological function following ischemic stroke. However, since neuronal death is the primary mechanism that limits functional recovery, stem cell therapy is emerging as a potentially effective regenerative approach. Once more PBSCs are being increasingly used as a self-donated source for cell therapies for regenerating skeletal muscle, heart and neurons. The PBSCs may need to be "amplified" with G-CSF, speculated the researchers.

All of the patients in the trial had suffered a stroke in the past, as long as five years prior to this study. At the end of a 12 month follow-up, the group of 15 patients with neurological deficits who received injections of PBSCs experienced neurological and functional improvement based on a number of clinical outcomes measures. The control group of 15 patients with neurological deficits that did not receive the PBSC injections did not experience the same beneficial outcomes.

The researchers reported that nine of the 15 patients undergoing PBSC transplantation experienced "positive motor evoked potentials" (MEPs) after transcranial magnetic stimulation, but why MEPs appeared in some of the transplanted group, but not all, was unclear.

"Despite this success, it should be noted that this was a preliminary study and, due to the small number of patients, are tentative," concluded the researchers. "In the future we plan to conduct a multi-center, large-scale, double blind, placebo-controlled randomized studies to better evaluate the effect of PBSC implantation in patients suffering from the effects of past stroke."

"This phase II study offers pilot clinical evidence supporting the use of autologous stem cell-based treatment for stroke" said Dr. Cesar V. Borlongan, Prof. of Neurosurgery and Director of the Center of Excellence for Aging & Brain Repair at the University of South Florida. "Clarification of the impact of G-CSF on the cells and whether other factors are necessary to maximize the benefit of cell transplantation, as well as further studies with a larger number of patients are necessary to determine equivocal safety and efficacy of this treatment".

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Autologous stem cell therapy improves motor function in chronic stroke victims

Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center Visits the Forum at Deer Creek: Senior Living Center

By Stem Cell Treatment

Deerfield Beach, Florida (PRWEB) April 23, 2014

The Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center, PC, located in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and Boca Raton, Florida, announces their invite to speak at the Forum at Deer Creek in Deerfield, Florida on the use of stem cells for various degenerative and inflammatory conditions. This will be provided by Dr. Nia Smyrniotis, Medical Director.

This seminar will be held on April 28 at 2:30 pm at the Forum at Deer Creek, 3001 Deer Creek Country Club Blvd., Deerfield Beach, FL 33442.

At the Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center, utilizing investigational protocols, adult adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) can be deployed to improve patients quality of life with a number of degenerative conditions and diseases. ADSCs are taken from the patients own adipose (fat) tissue (also called stromal vascular fraction (SVF). Adipose tissue is exceptionally abundant in ADSCs. The adipose tissue is obtained from the patient during a 15 minute mini-liposuction performed under local anesthesia in the doctors office. SVF is a protein-rich solution containing mononuclear cell lines (predominantly autologous mesenchymal stem cells), macrophage cells, endothelial cells, red blood cells, and important Growth Factors that facilitate the stem cell process and promote their activity.

ADSCs are the body's natural healing cells - they are recruited by chemical signals emitted by damaged tissues to repair and regenerate the bodys damaged cells. The Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center only uses autologous stem cells from a person's own fat no embryonic stem cells are used. Our current areas of study include: heart failure, emphysema, COPD, asthma, Parkinsons disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and orthopedic joint injections. For more information, or if someone thinks they may be a candidate for one of the stem cell protocols offered by Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center, they may contact Dr. Nia Smyrniotis directly at (561) 331-2999, or see a complete list of the Centers study areas at: http://www.MiamiStemCellsUSA.com.

About Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center:

The Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center is an affiliate of the Cell Surgical Network (CSN). We provide care for people suffering from diseases that may be alleviated by access to adult stem cell based regenerative treatment. We utilize a fat transfer surgical technology to isolate and implant the patients own stem cells from a small quantity of fat harvested by a mini-liposuction on the same day. The investigational protocols utilized by the Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center have been reviewed and approved by an IRB (Institutional Review Board) which is registered with the U.S. Department of Health, Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) and the study is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). For more information contact: Info(at)MiamiStemCellsUSA(dot)com or visit our website: http://www.MiamiStemCellsUSA.com.

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Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center Visits the Forum at Deer Creek: Senior Living Center

Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center: Upcoming Lecture at Thousand Oaks Library

By Stem Cell Treatment

Thousand Oaks, CA (PRWEB) April 23, 2014

The Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center, PC, located in Irvine, California, announces a free public seminar on the use of stem cells for various degenerative and inflammatory conditions. They will be provided by Dr. Thomas A. Gionis, Surgeon-in-Chief.

The seminar will be held on Tuesday, April 29th at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at the Thousand Oaks Library, 1401 E. Janss Road, Thousand Oaks, CA.

At the Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center, utilizing investigational protocols, adult adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) can be deployed to improve patients quality of life with a number of degenerative conditions and diseases. ADSCs are taken from the patients own adipose (fat) tissue (also called stromal vascular fraction (SVF)). Adipose tissue is exceptionally abundant in ADSCs. The adipose tissue is obtained from the patient during a 15 minute mini-liposuction performed under local anesthesia in the doctors office. SVF is a protein-rich solution containing mononuclear cell lines (predominantly autologous mesenchymal stem cells), macrophage cells, endothelial cells, red blood cells, and important Growth Factors that facilitate the stem cell process and promote their activity.

ADSCs are the body's natural healing cells - they are recruited by chemical signals emitted by damaged tissues to repair and regenerate the bodys damaged cells. The Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center only uses autologous stem cells from a person's own fat no embryonic stem cells are used. Our current areas of study include: Heart Failure, Emphysema, COPD, Asthma, Parkinsons Disease, Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, and orthopedic joint injections. For more information, or if someone thinks they may be a candidate for one of the stem cell protocols offered by Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center, they may contact Dr. Gionis directly at (949) 679-3889, or see a complete list of the Centers study areas at: http://www.StemCellsUSA.net.

About Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center: The Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center is an affiliate of the Cell Surgical Network (CSN). We provide care for people suffering from diseases that may be alleviated by access to adult stem cell based regenerative treatment. We utilize a fat transfer surgical technology to isolate and implant the patients own stem cells from a small quantity of fat harvested by a mini-liposuction on the same day. The investigational protocols utilized by the Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center have been reviewed and approved by an IRB (Institutional Review Board) which is registered with the U.S. Department of Research Protections; and the study is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). For more information contact: Info(at)StemCellsUSA(dot)net or visit our website: http://www.StemCellsUSA.net.

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Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center: Upcoming Lecture at Thousand Oaks Library

Prosecutors say Stamina treatment hurt, not helped, patients

By Stem Cell Treatment

Charges of criminal association may be filed in medical case

(ANSA) - Turin, April 23 - Not only was a discredited stem-cell treatment useless, investigations found that it actually hurt a number of patients, prosecutors said Wednesday as they concluded a probe of 20 suspects involved in the Stamina treatment. That includes Davide Vannoni, founder of the Stamina Foundation, who may face indictment in the case now that prosecutors have finished a lengthy probe. Charges could include criminal association to commit aggravated fraud and administration of dangerous drugs, according to prosecutors whose probe examined the treatment of slightly more than 100 patients and found "adverse reactions" in some cases. Another 37 donors of stem cells used in the controversial treatment, rejected by the health ministry, were examined during the investigation. According to prosecutors, Vannoni and other suspects "falsely pretended" to patients and their families that there was "high chance" of recovery from serious illness if they agreed to the Stamina treatment. Vannoni, a former psychology lecturer who was indicted earlier this year for alleged attempted fraud against the Piedmont Region, had also tried to discredit health officials and the national health system while raising social tension, according to prosecutors. Earlier this month, hospitals in Italy that used the discredited stem-cell treatment announced they had suspended the program. That followed announcements last fall by Italy's health ministry that the Stamina Foundation - the nonprofit foundation that developed the treatment - would not be allowed to test it on humans. The foundation was also stripped of its non-profit status after a study found its treatment was "ignorant of stem-cell biology". Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said she was "not surprised" by the outcome of the investigation. "It is a story that had Italians holding their breath with many concerns and anxieties," she said. "It is important that (the findings) come out clearly, because there are victims, the thousands of people who believed they could have a cure," she said. The Stamina treatment involves extracting bone-marrow stem cells from a patient, turning them into neurons by exposing them to retinoic acid for two hours, and injecting them back into the patient. Supporters of the therapy thought it could be a cure for fatal degenerative nerve diseases such as spinal muscular atrophy, while detractors said it was devoid of scientific merit. A panel of experts appointed by Italy's health ministry said in January it found the therapy seriously lacking in both premise and practice. Their report cited "serious imperfections and omissions in the Stamina protocol, including conceptual errors and an apparent ignorance of stem-cell biology". The Stamina Foundation had asked for 500,000 euros of funding to develop a stem-cell laboratory, a request that earlier prosecutors had argued was fraudulent because the efficacy of the treatment has been "completely disproved".

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Prosecutors say Stamina treatment hurt, not helped, patients

Study finds long-term survival of human neural stem cells transplanted into primate brain

By Stem Cell Treatment

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Apr-2014

Contact: Robert Miranda cogcomm@aol.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair

Putnam Valley, NY. (Apr. 23 2014) A team of researchers in Korea who transplanted human neural stem cells (hNSCs) into the brains of nonhuman primates and assessed cell survival and differentiation after 22 and 24 months found that the hNSCs had differentiated into neurons at 24 months and did not cause tumors.

The study will be published in a future issue of Cell Transplantation but is currently freely available on-line as an unedited early e-pub at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/content-ct1117Antonucci2.

The hNSCs were labeled with magnetic nanoparticles to enable them to be followed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They did not use immunosuppressants. According to the researchers, their study is the first to evaluate and show the long-term survival and differentiation of hNSCs without the need for immunosuppression.

The researchers concluded that hNSCs could be of "great value" as a source for cell replacement and gene transfer for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), spinal cord injury and stroke.

"Stroke is the fourth major cause of death in the US behind heart failure, cancer, and lower respiratory disease," said study co-author Dr. Seung U. Kim of University of British Columbia Hospital's department of neurology in Canada. "While tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) treatment within three hours after a stroke has shown good outcomes, stem cell therapy has the potential to address the treatment needs of those stroke patients for whom tPA treatment was unavailable or did not help."

Dr. Kim and colleagues in Korea grafted magnetic particle-labeled hNSCs into the brains of laboratory primates and evaluated their performance to assess their survival and differentiation over 24 months. Of particular interest was determining their ability to differentiate into neurons and to determine whether the cells caused tumorogenesis.

"We injected hNSCs into the frontal lobe and the putamen of the monkey brain because they are included in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory, which is the main target in the development of the ischemic lesion in animal stroke models," commented Dr. Kim. "Thus, research on survival and differentiation of hNSCs in the MCA territory should provide more meaningful information to cell transplantation in the MCA occlusion stroke model."

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Study finds long-term survival of human neural stem cells transplanted into primate brain

Probe finished in controversial stemcell therapy

By Stem Cell Treatment

Next step by prosecutors could be indictments

(ANSA) - Turin, April 23 - Prosecutors said Wednesday they have completed their investigation into a controversial stem-cell treatment involving 20 individuals, including Davide Vannoni, founder of the Stamina Foundation. The notice means prosecutors could now proceed to indictments in the case that may involve charges of fraud. Earlier this month, hospitals in Italy that used the discredited stem-cell treatment announced they have suspended the program. That followed announcements last fall by Italy's health that the Stamina Foundation - the nonprofit foundation that developed the treatment - would not be allowed to test it on humans. The foundation was also stripped of its non-profit status after a study found its treatment was "ignorant of stem-cell biology". Vannoni, a former psychology lecturer, was indicted earlier this year for alleged attempted fraud against the Piedmont Region. The Stamina Foundation had asked for 500,000 euros of funding to develop a stem-cell laboratory, a request prosecutors had earlier argued was fraudulent because the efficacy of the treatment has been "completely disproved". The Stamina treatment involves extracting bone-marrow stem cells from a patient, turning them into neurons by exposing them to retinoic acid for two hours, and injecting them back into the patient. Supporters of the therapy thought it could be a cure for fatal degenerative nerve diseases such as spinal muscular atrophy, while detractors said it was devoid of scientific merit. A panel of experts appointed by Italy's health ministry said in January it found the therapy seriously lacking in both premise and practice. Their report cited "serious imperfections and omissions in the Stamina protocol, including conceptual errors and an apparent ignorance of stem-cell biology".

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Probe finished in controversial stemcell therapy

Scientists identify cancer specific cell for potential treatment of gastric cancer

By Stem Cell Treatment

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Apr-2014

Contact: Kimberley Wang kimberley.wang@nus.edu.sg National University of Singapore

A team of scientists led by a researcher from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore has identified the cancer specific stem cell which causes gastric cancer. This discovery opens up the possibility of developing new drugs for the treatment of this disease and other types of cancers.

The research group, led by Dr Chan Shing Leng, Research Assistant Professor at CSI Singapore, demonstrated for the first time that a cancer-specific variant of a cell surface protein, CD44v8-10, marks gastric cancer stem cells but not normal cells. Conceptualised by Dr Chan and Associate Professor Jimmy So, a Senior Consultant from the Department of Surgery at the National University Hospital Singapore, the study is also the first to be conducted with human gastric tissue specimens and took five years to complete. This novel study will be published in the research journal Cancer Research, the official journal of American Association of Cancer Research, in May 2014.

Gastric cancer is a major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with low survival and high recurrence rates for patients with advanced disease. New therapies for the treatment of gastric cancer are urgently needed.

How CD44v8-10 serves as a biomarker

Many cancer cell types express high levels of a cell surface protein known as CD44. This protein marks cancer stem cells that are thought to be responsible for resistance to current cancer therapy and tumour relapse. There are many forms of CD44 and the standard form of CD44, CD44s, is found in high abundance on normal blood cells. It was previously not known which form of CD44 is found on cancer stem cells. This is critical as an ideal cancer target should mark only cancer cells but not normal cells.

Research by the team and other scientists in the field has led to the hypothesis that the growth of gastric cancer may be driven by cancer stem cells. In this study, the researchers analysed 53 patient tissue samples in conjunction with patient-derived xenograft models which are derived from intestinal type gastric cancer. The team is one of the few groups in the world to have a relatively large collection of patient-derived xenograft models for gastric cancer and the first to use these models for identification of gastric cancer stem cells. A total of eight cancer cell lines were used in this study, including six new cell lines which were established by the researchers.

The scientists discovered a cancer-specific CD44 variant, CD44v8-10 marks gastric cancer stem cells but not normal cells. CD44v8-10 promotes cancer cell growth and it is significantly more abundant in gastric tumour sites compared to normal gastric tissue, which makes it easily detectable. The findings results suggest that CD44v8-10 is an ideal target for developing clinical therapeutics against gastric cancer stem cells. As CD44v8-10 is cancer specific, it may also be used as a biomarker for screening and diagnosis of gastric cancer. This is significant as biomarkers for early detection of gastric cancer are currently not available and doctors rely on endoscopy for the screening and diagnosis of this disease.

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Scientists identify cancer specific cell for potential treatment of gastric cancer

In stem-cell research, health benefits outweigh the risks …

By Stell Cell Research

CONTROVERSIES OVER stem-cell research are so last decade or so it seemed until last week.

For the last few years, the promising field of stem-cell research has focused on a technique that skirts various ethical concerns about the treatment of human embryos and the potential to clone whole human beings. But last week, U.S. and South Korean researchers announced that they went ahead with a different technique, successfully creating stem cells cloned from the normal skin cells of adults. Their work helps to open a new avenue in stem-cell research. But it also could be a step on the way to human reproductive cloning.

Some ethical worries are reasonable, but they are not enough reason to hold back this research.

Since the late 1990s, scientists have held out the prospect of extraordinary new treatments from pluripotent stem cells, which are stem cells that can grow into all sorts of different tissues at researchers urging. Scientists might be able to grow insulin-producing cells for patients with diabetes. People suffering from macular degeneration might not have to lose their sight. There is even the potential to grow whole organs, matched exactly to patients, that could replace diseased ones.

Early research often involved taking stem cells from embryos discarded during in-vitro fertilization therapy. That procedure stoked opposition from people concerned about embryo destruction during scientific experimentation. Then scientists developed a different technique for harvesting stem cells that involved reprogramming adult cells, no embryos involved.

Work on that procedure continues, but there is concern in some quarters that it will not reliably and uniformly produce usable stem cells. So other scientists have been working on something called somatic cell nuclear transfer, which involves taking the nucleus out of a human egg and replacing it with the nucleus from an adult cell. Last weeks announcement came from researchers who had refined the nuclear transfer process and achieved the results they were looking for pluripotent human stem cells.

The procedure is not perfect. It took a lot of eggs to record a few successes. Moreover, it is the sort of technique scientists would use if they were trying to engage in reproductive cloning creating fully formed human beings who are exact genetic copies of other human beings. The question is whether researchers who arent interested in reproductive cloning should be barred from refining the nuclear transfer process lest a rogue scientist decides to try Xeroxing people.

Wed say that they should not be restricted if the method may advance the search for bona fide stem-cell therapies. The potential to directly and significantly reduce human suffering is too great to close off every line of research but the one that carries zero controversy. There is, moreover, a clear ethical distinction between cloning a humans cells in order to redeploy them in medical treatment and growing a genetic copy of a human being. As long as scientists do not cross ethical lines much farther from where they are now lines that Congress could write into federal law researchers should have the flexibility to go in whichever direction is scientifically useful.

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In stem-cell research, health benefits outweigh the risks ...

Stem cell research fuels more debate on cloning

By Stell Cell Research

Karen Weintraub, Special for USA TODAY 5:42 p.m. EDT April 19, 2014

A sheep called Dolly, the world's first clone of an adult mammal, is seen in this undated photo. Dolly, was developed by a team of scientists at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland. A study out this week reported success in cloning a human embryo using a technique similar to the one used to clone Dolly, who was cloned in 1996 and died in 2003.(Photo: AP)

A study published this week has reawakened debate over the government's need to regulate human cloning.

In a paper in the journal Cell Stem Cell, researchers took the nucleus of skin cells from 35 and 75 year old men, and produced cloned human embryos. From those they were able to generate embryonic stem cells, valued because they can then be teased into becoming any tissues the body might need.

The researchers are quick to point out that they would never try to implant that embryo in a woman. Instead, the cells will be used for research purposes with an eye toward developing medical therapies. The promise of stem cells has long been that they could be used to grow tissues the body needs to treat ailments ranging from Parkinson's to spinal cord injuries. Creating stem cells from a cloned embryo presumably would create tissues that wouldn't be rejected by the person who donated skin cells initially.

But advocacy groups on opposite ends of the political spectrum said Friday that the study is a reminder of the need for government to step in before someone tries to extend this technique to engineer a human clone.

Animal cloning has been possible since Dolly the sheep was born in 1996, but human cloning has long been considered nearly as impossible as it is unethical. The new paper, which builds on and confirms a study published last year using a similar technique, resolves technical hurdles along the path to human cloning.

"The science is no longer theoretical," said Jeremy Gruber, president of the Council for Responsible Genetics, a New York City-based bioethics organization. "We need to start putting laws into place to identify where the line should be drawn in terms of governance of these techniques."

Gruber's organization, along with the Berkeley, Calif.-based Center for Genetics and Society, both oppose the use of cloning for human reproduction, but support cloning for the purpose of creating embryonic stem cells to be used in research.

The Washington-based Family Research Council, a conservative think tank and lobbying group, opposes all cloning regardless of its purpose. A bill to that effect has been proposed by the current House, but not the Senate, said David Prentice, senior fellow for life sciences at the Family Research Council.

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Stem cell research fuels more debate on cloning

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