Fetal stem cell treatment for multiple sclerosis shows promising signs

People with progressive multiple sclerosis had elevated levels of protective molecules in their spinal fluid two years after being injected with fetal stem cells.It is not known if this will lead to improvement in symptoms over time

To Jason Arunn Murugesu

Transplantation of stem cells from the fetal nervous system into people with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) reduced markers of the condition in early-stage trials. It is not known if this will alleviate symptoms or slow the progression of the condition.

MS is a neurodegenerative disease that affects a person’s vision and movement of limbs. It occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks parts of the brain or spinal cord. Progressive multiple sclerosis, defined as a condition that worsens over time, affects approximately 10% of people with MS and has few treatments to effectively control its symptoms.

Neural stem cells, which can give rise to any of the cells that make up the nervous system, have shown promise in treating other neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.

To test the potential of stem cells in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis, Martino Gianvito and his colleagues at the Vita Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy, after having a voluntary abortion. , extracted neural stem cells from 10- to 12-week-old fetuses. By mothers who donated their fetuses to scientific research.

The researchers injected four different doses of these cells into the spinal canal containing the spinal cord of 12 people aged 18 to 55 with progressive multiple sclerosis.

The severity of the participants’ multiple sclerosis meant they were all bedridden before the experiment, Gianvito says.

The study focused primarily on safety, with no serious treatment-related adverse events reported during the two-year follow-up period.

Before the first injection, participants underwent a lumbar puncture to examine levels of neuroprotective molecules in their cerebrospinal fluid and had MRI scans to determine the amount of gray matter in their brains.

Three months after injection, participants underwent another lumbar puncture. The results suggest that all participants had increased levels of anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective molecules in their cerebrospinal fluid.

Two years later, MRI scans showed that those who received the two highest doses had a lower rate of gray matter loss than those who received the two lower doses.

It is unclear whether these results lead to symptomatic relief or progression of the condition in multiple sclerosis. A test showed that the participants’ locomotion speed did not improve two years after the injection, he says, Gianvito.

Participants were still bedridden. However, MS hadn’t gotten worse in two years.

According to Gianvito, two years is not enough to assess therapeutic potential and more research is needed.