What is the progress of stem cell treatment of stroke sequelae?
2020-09-10
According to the "China Stroke Prevention and Treatment Report", one person in my country has a stroke every 12 seconds, and one person dies of a stroke every 21 seconds. At present, the number of deaths due to stroke each year is second only to cardiovascular disease and cancer, becoming one of the most common causes of death.
Stroke is a disease whose main clinical manifestations are cerebral ischemia and hemorrhagic injury, and it is also called a cerebrovascular event or stroke. Stroke has a very high mortality and disability rate, and most of the surviving stroke patients suffer from severe sequelae. Common symptoms of stroke sequelae include unilateral limb inability to move (hemiplegia), aphasia, dizziness, loss of mobility and cognitive abilities, resulting in poor quality of life for patients.
Regarding stem cell therapy for stroke sequelae, many readers left a message expressing concern. This article starts from clinical research to help you understand the progress of stem cell treatment of stroke sequelae.
The clinical study of stem cell treatment of stroke sequelae
Stem cells are cells with self-renewal and strong differentiation potential, including embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Adult stem cells come from various tissues, such as neural stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells. Studies have shown that stem cells can repair damaged nerve tissue and have the potential to treat the sequelae of stroke.
Stem cells can be infused into patients through vein transplantation, arterial transplantation, and brain parenchymal transplantation. In recent years, researchers have used in vivo models of ischemic stroke for stem cell therapy, and the results show that stem cell transplantation can achieve good therapeutic effects. The role of stem cells in the treatment process includes enhancing sensorimotor function recovery, promoting blood vessel formation and nerve regeneration, regulating inflammation and inducing oligodendrocyte formation.
Improving the quality of life: In 2006, Chinese scholars released the results of 50 clinical studies on neural stem cell transplantation for the treatment of stroke sequelae. The American functional independence evaluation score was used before and six months after the operation to evaluate the patient’s mobility and action The results show that the patient has good functional independence and improved life quality after the treatment of lumbar puncture and subarachnoid implantation of neural stem cells.
Improve physical function: In 2009, researchers [5] applied neural stem cell transplantation to treat 3 patients with sequelae of cerebral hemorrhage, followed up for 2-5 months after treatment, of which 3 patients had increased muscle strength and improved language function, and 2 patients The patient's intelligence and calculation ability improved, and 1 patient's swallowing ability improved.
A paper published in the Journal of Chinese Medical Engineering in 2013 mentioned that 35 patients with sequelae of stroke received three mesenchymal stem cell vein transplantation. The motor function assessment after 3 months showed that the patient’s sensory, balance function, upper and lower limbs Motor function was improved, while the control group (not receiving stem cell transplantation) had no significant improvement in all assessments after 3 months.
The literature shows that from 2006 to 2013, Chinese scholars published hundreds of clinical studies on stem cell transplantation for the treatment of stroke sequelae. The overall research results show that stem cells have a positive therapeutic effect on the treatment of stroke sequelae. In addition, related studies have also been carried out abroad during the same period, and the results are good.
Progress of domestic related projects
In addition to the reported clinical cases of stem cell treatment of stroke sequelae, many research institutions are currently conducting new stem cell treatment research for stroke sequelae to improve the treatment effect.
In 2019, the Seventh Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital successfully launched the stem cell clinical research project-"Neural Stem Cell Intracerebral Transplantation in the Treatment of Ischemic Stroke-induced Paralysis Phase II Clinical Study" released information on recruiting patients with sequelae of cerebral infarction. In this project, neural stem cell products will be implanted around the patient's cerebral infarction disease to achieve the purpose of repairing tissue damage and motor dysfunction caused by cerebral infarction. This is a project carried out by a research team led by Professor Xu Ruxiang, a famous domestic neurosurgery expert.
On February 19, 2020, the Drug Evaluation Center of the National Medical Products Administration approved a clinical trial application for mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of ischemic stroke. On July 6 this year, the Beijing Tiantan Hospital and other institutions jointly launched the evaluation of ischemia The Phase I/IIa clinical trial of sexually tolerant human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (it-hMSC) in the treatment of sequelae of ischemic stroke will play a positive role in promoting the research of stem cell treatment of stroke sequelae in China.
Outlook
Stem cell therapy has shown good therapeutic effects in clinical trials of many diseases. With the continuous increase of investment by governments and research institutions in various regions, more and more clinical trials will be carried out one after another. The effect of stem cells in treating stroke sequelae is expected to achieve a major breakthrough, and it will also promote the leap from clinical trials to clinical applications of stem cells. .
