Research Library

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Adult Stem Cells: New Hope for Curing Degenerative Diseases
Life Extension, October 2007, pg 41 – 48
Denis Rodgerson, PhD, Ron Rothenberg, MD, FACEP, and Wayne A. Marasco, MD, PhD

The potential to heal once incurable degenerative diseases such as cancer or heart disease by regenerating cells that have failed or are about to fail is now within our grasp, thanks to the emergence of an exciting new field of medicine: regenerative medicine using adult stem cells.

Indeed, tissues such as heart muscle that were long thought to be non-renewable have now been shown to be regenerated through this novel therapy. By using adult stem cells, scientists have avoided the controversy that has stymied advanced embryonic stem cell research in the past. Adult stem cell therapy offers an unprecedented step forward in the history of medicine and the applications of this new form of regenerative medicine are potentially unlimited.

First Report of Autologus Cord Blood Transplantation in the Treatment of a Child With Leukemia.
PEDIATRICS Vol. 119 No. 1 January 2007, pp. e296-e300
Ammar Hayani, MDa, Eberhard Lampeter, MDb,c, David Viswanatha, MDd, David Morgan, MDe and Sharad N. Salvi, MDa

We present the case of a 3-year-old girl with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who developed isolated central nervous system relapse while receiving chemotherapy 10 months after diagnosis. The child achieved a second remission on retreatment with systemic and intrathecal chemotherapy. She then underwent myeloablative chemotherapy and radiation therapy followed by infusion of her own umbilical cord blood, which the parents had saved after her delivery. She is now doing well and is in complete remission 20 months after cord blood transplantation. In this first report of autologous cord blood transplantation for treatment of childhood leukemia, we discuss the safety and feasibility of this procedure as well as some of the uncertainties surrounding autologous cord blood collection and usage.
No Longer a biological waste product: umbilical cord blood
The Medical Journal of Australia, Volume 184 Number 8, 17 April 2006.
Tracey A O’Brien, Karin Tiedemann and Marcus R Vowels

Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation is an accepted curative therapy for many cancers and inherited non-malignant diseases, including bone marrow failure syndromes, haemoglobinopathies, and inborn errors of metabolism. Stem cells can be used from the bone marrow or blood of matched siblings or appropriately matched unrelated volunteers, but many patients do not have a suitably matched donor.  Umbilical cord blood (UCB) has been successfully used as an alternative stem cell source. It has the advantage of tolerance for a degree of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) incompatibility not possible with adult bone marrow, resulting in greater likelihood of finding an appropriate match. UCB is also stored fully tested and cryopreserved, leading to rapid availability. Greatest clinical experience in UCB transplants has been in treating paediatric leukaemia. Results using well matched UCB grafts are equivalent or better than with unrelated bone marrow transplant.  Cell dose and the degree of HLA matching are critical determinants in the success of UCB transplant.  The use of UCB in older children and adult patients has been limited by the fixed, low cell dose available in a UCB unit, relative to recipient weight. This can be overcome by strategies such as using two or more UCB units.  Early animal studies suggest that UCB may have the potential to differentiate into other cell types, including nervous tissue, and may in future play a role in the treatment of disorders such as Alzheimer disease and Parkinson disease. 

Isolation of multipotent mesenchymal stem cells from umbilical cord blood
Blood Journal. 2004 Mar 1;103(5):1669-75.
Lee Oscar K, Kuo Tom K, Chen Wei-Ming, Lee Kuan-Der, Hsieh Shie-Liang, Chen Tian-Hsiung.

It is well accepted that umbilical cord blood has been a source for hematopoietic stem cells. However, controversy exists as to whether cord blood can serve as a source of mesenchymal stem cells, which can differentiate into cells of different connective tissue lineages such as bone, cartilage, and fat, and little success has been reported in the literature about the isolation of such cells from cord blood. Here we report a novel method to obtain single cell-derived, clonally expanded mesenchymal stem cells that are of multilineage differentiation potential by negative immunoselection and limiting dilution. The immunophenotype of these clonally expanded cells is consistent with that reported for bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Under appropriate induction conditions, these cells can differentiate into bone, cartilage, and fat. Surprisingly, these cells were also able to differentiate into neuroglial- and hepatocyte-like cells under appropriate induction conditions and, thus, these cells may be more than mesenchymal stem cells as evidenced by their ability to differentiate into cell types of all 3 germ layers. In conclusion, umbilical cord blood does contain mesenchymal stem cells and should not be regarded as medical waste. It can serve as an alternative source of mesenchymal stem cells to bone marrow.

Stem cells in gynaecology and obstetrics
Panminerva Medica , 2004, vol. 46, no1, pp. 49-59 PERILLO A. ; BONANNO G. ; PIERELLI L. ; RUTELLA S. ; SCAMBIA G. ; MANCUSO S.

Over the past 10 years, we have become involved in a new research effort and an increasing scientific interest in the field of stem cell-based therapy. We are therefore able to describe different areas in which stem cell research can be applied and developed in gynecology and obstetrics. I) Hematopoietic stem cells have been used to set up therapeutic strategies for the treatment of gynecological solid tumors such as ovarian cancer. In this context different autologous or allogeneic transplantation approaches have been proposed and clinically investigated. II) Umbilical cord blood, which was often considered a waste material of the delivery, actually represents a precious source of stem cells that can be used for cell-based treatments of malignancies and inherited diseases. III) A feto-maternal cell traffic has recently been demonstrated through the placental barrier during pregnancy. This cellular exchange also includes stem cells from the fetus, which can generate microchimerisms in the mother and contribute to tissue repair mechanisms in different maternal organs. IV) Stem cells can be used for prenatal transplantation to treat different severe congenital diseases of the fetus. Nevertheless, several problems need to be solved to achieve an efficient in utero stem cell transplantation. Recent reports have pointed out the importance of timing in prenatal stem cell transplantation procedures and have shown the advantage of an early stem cell injection. An ultrasound-guided intracelomic approach could allow this possibility.

The Successful Treatment of Severe Aplastic Anemia with Autologous Cord Blood Transplantation
Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 10:741-742, 2004.07.003
Steven M. Fruchtman, Anne Hurlet, Robert Dracker, Luis Isola, Benjamin Goldman,
Benjamin L. Schneider, Sukru Emre.

Cord blood transplantation has been used extensively in the allogeneic setting for acquired and genetic disorders of hematopoiesis. There is less experience in the utility of autologous cord blood transplantation, and there is great controversy about the role of autologous cord blood collection and storage. We report on the successful use of autologous cord blood transplantation for the treatment of severe aplastic anemia following fulminant hepatic failure and living related liver transplantation.

Human Umbilical cord Blood Stem cells Infusion in Spinal Cord Injury: Engraftment and Beneficial influence on Behaviour.
Journal of Hematotherapy & stem Cell Research, 12:271-278, 2003.
Saporta Samuel, Kim Jong-Joong, Willing Alison E, Fu Eugene S, Davis Cyndy D, Sanberg Paul R.

The use of human umbilical cord blood (hUCB)--a rich source of nonembryonic or adult stem cells-has recently been reported to ameliorate behavioral consequences of stroke. In this study, we tested whether human cord blood leukocytes also ameliorate behavioral impairments of spinal cord injury. Rats were divided into five groups: (1) laminectomy (without spinal cord injury) only; (2) laminectomy + cord blood infusion; (3) spinal cord injury + cord blood infused 1 day post injury; (4) spinal cord injury + cord blood infused 5 days post injury; and (5) spinal cord injury only. Spinal cord injury was induced by compressing the spinal cord for 1 min with an aneurysm clip calibrated to a closing pressure of 55 g. Open-field behavior was assessed 1, 2, and 3 weeks after intravenous injection of prelabeled human cord blood cells. Open-field test scores of spinal cord injured rats treated with human cord blood at 5 days were significantly improved as compared to scores of rats similarly injured but treated at day 1 as well as the otherwise untreated injured group. The results suggest that cord blood stem cells are beneficial in reversing the behavioral effects of spinal cord injury, even when infused 5 days after injury. Human cord blood-derived cells were observed in injured areas, but not in noninjured areas, of rat spinal cords, and were never seen in corresponding areas of spinal cord of noninjured animals. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that cord blood-derived stem cells migrate to and participate in the healing of neurological defects caused by traumatic assault.