Stem cells trial to fight Parkinson’s

Why it is in news?
  • After successful trials in monkey, researchers plan to inject 5 million iPS cells into patient brains.
  • Japanese researchers on Monday announced the first human trial using a kind of stem cell to treat Parkinson’s disease, building on earlier animal trials.
  • The research team at Kyoto University plans to inject five million induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells, which have the potential to develop into any cell in the body, into patient brains.
What is Parkinson’s disease?
    • Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that affects the body’s motor system, often causing shaking and other difficulties in movement.
    • Worldwide, about 10 million people have the illness, according to the Parkinson’s disease Foundation.
    • The cause of Parkinson’s Disease is unknown, but researchers speculate that both genetic and environmental factors are involved. Some genes have been linked to the disease.
    • Primary symptoms include
  2. stiffness,
  3. slowness,
  4. impaired balance,
  5. and later on a shuffling gait.
    • Some secondary symptoms include
    • Most individuals with Parkinson's disease are diagnosed when they are 60 years old or older, but early-onset Parkinson's disease also occurs.
    • Several staging systems for Parkinson’s disease exist depending upon the organization that treats and researches the disease. The Parkinson’s Foundations supports five stages-
  • Stage 1. Symptoms are mild and do not interfere with the person’s quality of life.
  • Stage 2. Symptoms worsen and daily activities become more difficult and take more time to complete.
  • Stage 3 is considered mid-stage Parkinson’s disease. The individual loses balance, moves more slowly, and falls are common. Symptoms impair daily activities, for example, dressing, eating, and brushing teeth.
  • Stage 4. Symptoms become severe and the individual needs assistance walking and performing daily activities.
  • Stage 5 is the most advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease. The individual is unable to walk and will need full time assistance with living.
  • What is IPS cells?
    • IPS cells are created by stimulating mature, already specialised, cells back into a juvenile state — basically cloning without the need for an embryo.
    • These can be derived from the patient, making them less likely to be rejected, while also sidestepping ethical qualms about taking cells from embryos.
    • The cells can be transformed into a range of different types of cells, and their use is a key sector of medical research.
    • Currently available therapies “improve symptoms without slowing or halting the disease progression”.
    • But the new research aims to actively reverse the disease.
    Monitoring period
    • The clinical test with seven participants aged between 50 and 69 will begin on Wednesday.
    • The university will monitor the conditions of the patients for two years after the operation.
    • They also confirmed that the iPS cells had not transformed into tumors during the two years after the implant.
    • In 2014, Riken, a Japanese government-backed research institution, carried out the world’s first surgery to implant iPS cells to treat a patient with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common medical condition that can lead to blindness in older people.
    • The IPS cells from healthy donors will be developed into dopamine-producing brain cells, which are no longer present in people with Parkinson’s disease.
    • The clinical trials come after the researchers successfully used iPS cells to restore functioning brain cells in monkeys last year.
    • They announced last year that primates with Parkinson’s symptoms regained significant mobility after iPS cells were inserted into their brains.

    Source
    The Hindu, medicinenet.com


    Posted by Jawwad Kazi on 31st Jul 2018
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