Stem Cell Research

[NatsAddict]

I believe it was Ali that, in the Fred Thompson thread, brought up stem cell research as an important issue.  I agree, but am not as knowledgeable on the subject as I should be.  Hopefully Ali and others share their knowledge.  Anyway, to get things started:

Oman gives the nod to stem cell therapy
By Ravindra Nath (Our correspondent)
10 October 2007


MUSCAT — Patients in Oman and the Gulf suffering from chronic degenerative diseases of the brain and spinal cord and the liver, including alcoholic and viral cirrhoses, generally regarded as 'incurable illnesses', have a new hope.

Stem cell therapy, that has virtually revolutionised the world of medicine in recent years, is now within their reach after the Health Ministry yesterday gave the go-ahead for an Indian hospital, which has done pioneering research in the field, to set up a referral centre in Muscat.

Tie-up

The 'Referral Centre for Advanced Stem Cell Therapy', which will be the first of its kind in the region and the result of a tie-up between Chennai-based Lifeline Hospitals and Al Hayat Polyclinic in Qurum, is expected to start functioning next month.

The arrangement involves Dr J.S. Rajkumar, Chairman of Lifeline Hospitals, visiting Muscat every month for three to four days for consultation at the Al Hayat. He and his team will treat the simple cases here, while the complex ones will be referred to Chennai. Lifeline is one of 10 or 12 stem cell treatment centres in the world and one of two in India.

"There has been a recent focus and extreme interest in the area of stem cell therapies in the field of medicine... What was just a promise a year ago now seems to have a more definitive role in clinical medicine. Evidence for this is streaming in from various parts of the world," Dr Rajkumar said in remarks after discussions with senior Health Ministry officials yesterday.

Clinical trials

Lifeline Hospitals had embarked on clinical trials with autologous (own body derived) stem cells for various critical diseases such as spinal injuries, heart failure and liver cirrhosis a year ago using the latest stem cell technology. The treatment involves harvesting stem cells from the hipbone of the patient and injecting the processed and purified cells back into the spinal fluid. The process called 'autologous stem cell implant' is different from embryonic or cord blood stem cell based therapies.

Lifeline Hospital has completed trials and therapies for more than 100 cases of spinal injuries and also cases with liver cirrhosis and heart failure. "In an analysis of the first 100 cases of spinal injuries who have completed six months follow-up, we have, possibly for the first time in the world, found substantial clinical improvement in 15 cases of which five have shown dramatic 'motor power improvement' — i.e. the patient could either stand up or walk," Dr Rajkumar said.

No side effects

Describing the new technology as ‘regenerative medicine’, he underlined that it did not have any side effects, noting that the therapy used the patient's own stem cells. He said the therapy had proved to be beneficial in the treatment of degenerative disorders like Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's, certain types of cancers and it could be useful in treating HIV-affected persons.

He cited the case of Akbar Ali, a 21-year old employee of a construction company from the UAE, who fell down from a scaffold and broke his spine. He had near-total paralysis of his limbs and urinary bladder when he started stem cell treatment in Lifeline in December last year. "By February 2007, he could amazingly walk without any support with an easy gait," Dr Rajkumar said.

In another incident, Prabhdeep Singh, a 19-year-old musical performer and part time student from Punjab in India was paralysed waist down after an automobile accident in October 2005. He was on wheelchair when he started treatment in March 2007. By June 2007, "he was progressively improving and is able to stand up and walk with the help of callipers," Dr Rajkumar said.

Not very expensive

Answering a question on costs, he said the treatment "is not very expensive, and ours is one of the cheapest in the world."

The stem cell team, he explained, consisted of a neurosurgeon, bone marrow specialist, anaesthetist and stem cell specialist who performed the therapy. The treatment requires hospitalisation for four days, to be followed by intensive physiotherapy with electrical stimulation.

Khaleej Times

I had heard of the "autologous" stem cells as a theory (and then in a way totally different from the methods described here), but did not know it was in practice and how far along it was in development.  The cost factor is another positive.  The story of the 19 year old, paralyze in October 2005, who start the autologous treatment in March, 2007, and three months later being able stand and walk, even with the callipers, really jumped out at me.

 

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

I just wrote a long reply, and the whole fricking thing got deleted for some reason.  Anyways, reply used me up.  In a nutshell, interesting article, and I'll believe it when I see it.  But, it scares he piss out of me that the rest of the world has a green light on this type of research, while we sit around praying.   

[saltydad]

Most of the efforts in using autologous stem cells has been in cancer, primarily of the nervous system, hematapoetic, muscle and kidney. The results to date have been mixed. Certainly the use of the patient's own strm cells (autologous) instead of anothers (allogenic) greatly reduces the risk of rejection. The use of autologous stem cells also eliminates the objections of this administration on using embryonic cell lines. However, it is not THE answer. Nothing is yet. We are criminally depriving our population of the potential advances that the use of embryonic stem cell line reaearch (beyond the few "allowed" by this administration) could lead to. It makes absolutely no sense.

The above quoted article does not have any scientific references that can be studied. Hopefully these are in preparation so that others can attempt to replicate and possibly advance these stated results.

[NatsAddict]

Stem-cell bond sales take off in California
Scientists confident research will yield treatments, cures for many diseases
By Kristen Gerencher, MarketWatch
Last Update: 6:58 PM ET Oct 4, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- California's stem cell research initiative got off to a strong start this week, nearly three years after state voters approved funding it with $3 billion in general obligation bonds.

Demand for the bonds exceeded expectations Wednesday, when retail investors bought $68.6 million, or more than 27%, of the $250 million issued in the sale. State Treasurer Bill Lockyer extended the purchase period for individual investors, who are required to invest a minimum of $5,000, through Thursday morning.

By the end of the sale, individuals had purchased $102.8 million, or 41% percent of the total, more than triple the amount the Treasurer's Office said it expected. Eighteen institutional investors bought the balance of the bonds.
     
"This $250 million sale will provide the nation's largest-ever investment in human embryonic stem cell research, and an unprecedented investment in the development of intellectual capital," Lockyer said in a statement.

Scientists believe stem cells, which have the potential to become any kind of cell in the body, may hold the keys for treating or even curing a number of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Many say stem cells derived from embryos offer the greatest benefit because they are the most malleable or "pluripotent."

The pursuit of embryonic-stem-cell research has been a political flashpoint in recent years. Some religious groups object to it, saying it destroys human life. Many medical experts say those embryos would otherwise be discarded by couples who decide to donate their extra embryos after they have successful in vitro fertilization.

President Bush twice vetoed legislation that would have allowed the use of federal funds for embryonic-stem-cell research. As a result, researchers have been restricted to using adult stem cells and a small number of existing embryonic-stem-cell lines, which many say has put them at an educational and competitive disadvantage.

Setting a precedent

Californians approved the stem-cell measure, Proposition 71, with 59% of the vote in 2004.

After several years of legal challenges, the state now can begin raising $3 billion over 10 years, said Dale Carlson, spokesman for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state agency that was created from the ballot initiative.

Other states such as Connecticut, Maryland and Illinois have put public money into similar research, but California's approach remains unparalleled, he said.

"Nobody else has ever floated general obligation bonds for scientific research in a state before," Carlson said, noting general obligation bonds typically pay for infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges. "You use debt financing to fund projects that have an extended life. Biomedical research is going to have an extended life, with the potential for an enormous payoff."

Stem cells have the potential to treat about 70 diseases, he said, noting that more than 50 well-known scientists have moved to California to participate in research since voters approved the measure.

"The world is looking at California to provide the global strategic leadership necessary to turn stem cells into therapies and cures."

CIRM has approved 136 grants with a total value of $208.5 million so far for training, research and facilities, Carlson said. Since 2005 the agency has been supported by a loan from the state and financing known as bond anticipation notes.

Researchers' understanding of the biology of both adult stem cells and embryonic ones is still in the very early stages, said Dr. Arnold Kriegstein, director of University of California-San Francisco's Institute for Regeneration Medicine.

But what's already clear is that embryonic stem cells offer a unique flexibility, he said. "They can become heart tissue or nerve tissue or skin tissue... These embryonic stem cells can really be the building blocks for regenerating a variety of different organs in the body."

Shot in the arm

UCSF is one of the biggest recipients of grants from CIRM. Its program, which has been privately funded for many years and has partnered with Geron Corp. (GERN), already has received 17 CIRM grants based on the use of human embryonic stem cells, Kriegstein said. "Seventeen labs here, most of whom have not worked with human cells before, will now have the opportunity to do that."

"Instead of using animal cells we'll be using human cells," he said. "That will mean any treatment that works in that model is much more likely to work in a patient than if it demonstrated first in a mouse."

The tricky part of working with such stem cell lines is keeping them from mingling with activities supported either directly or indirectly by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is how scientists traditionally have funded research, he said.

California's bond issue marks a turning point, Kriegstein said. "It's a dramatic new paradigm of the funding of biomedical research in this country."

"Research in this field is moving quickly, and much of it spurred on by the California initiative," he said. "You'll see other states just won't be able to do the work that California is going to be able to do in the next 10 to 12 years."

Despite the controversy, most Americans support stem cell research -- even Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, and former first lady Nancy Reagan have endorsed it, said Alan Wolfe, a political science professor at Boston College.

"This is a popular issue," he said. "People generally support it. There's no automatic opposition to this from conservatives."

"The Republican party is divided between moral conservatives who don't like stem-cell research and entrepreneurs," he said. "Entrepreneurs are like 'Hey, if China and Israel are doing this, we should be doing this.'"

Stem-cell research has become more visible with the rise of celebrity advocates such as Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease and stands to benefit personally from any therapies that are developed. Actor Christopher Reeve, who was paralyzed in an accident in 1995, also called for government-sponsored funding before his death in 2004.

The next president, whether Democrat or Republican, likely will seek to loosen the federal ban on embryonic-stem-cell research, Wolfe said. "I think eventually we will be doing this research and doing it with federal support."

Market Watch

[NatsAddict]

Most of the efforts in using autologous stem cells has been in cancer, primarily of the nervous system, hematapoetic, muscle and kidney. The results to date have been mixed. Certainly the use of the patient's own strm cells (autologous) instead of anothers (allogenic) greatly reduces the risk of rejection. The use of autologous stem cells also eliminates the objections of this administration on using embryonic cell lines. However, it is not THE answer. Nothing is yet. We are criminally depriving our population of the potential advances that the use of embryonic stem cell line reaearch (beyond the few "allowed" by this administration) could lead to. It makes absolutely no sense.

The above quoted article does not have any scientific references that can be studied. Hopefully these are in preparation so that others can attempt to replicate and possibly advance these stated results.

I googled "autologous stem cell study india" and came up with this study.

Journal of Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons

[kimnat]

We are criminally depriving our population of the potential advances that the use of embryonic stem cell line reaearch (beyond the few "allowed" by this administration) could lead to. It makes absolutely no sense.

The above quoted article does not have any scientific references that can be studied. Hopefully these are in preparation so that others can attempt to replicate and possibly advance these stated results.

I have heard many times that the promising news in stem cell research is in adult stem cells and that embryonic ones scientifically haven't yielded as well as researchers thought they would and as well as adult ones have.

And yes Ali, same thing happened to me yesterday, too.

[Dave B]

I just wrote a long reply, and the whole fricking thing got deleted for some reason.  Anyways, reply used me up.  In a nutshell, interesting article, and I'll believe it when I see it.  But, it scares he piss out of me that the rest of the world has a green light on this type of research, while we sit around praying.   

 

[saltydad]

I googled "autologous stem cell study india" and came up with this study.

Journal of Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons

Thanks NatsAddict. This study on the use of autologous stem cells (removed from the pt's. bone marrow) for congenital malformations showed, again, the promise that this type of therapy can bring. Approximately half of the pt's. showed some measure of positive result. Long-term effects are unknown. Further research is called for. In addition to autologous stem cells, the use of embryonic stem cells obtained from cord blood or during amniocentesis should alleviate any religious based ethical concerns, although I have none of these concerns regarding the use of embryonic stem cells myself.

[kimnat]

Thanks NatsAddict. This study on the use of autologous stem cells (removed from the pt's. bone marrow) for congenital malformations showed, again, the promise that this type of therapy can bring. Approximately half of the pt's. showed some measure of positive result. Long-term effects are unknown. Further research is called for. In addition to autologous stem cells, the use of embryonic stem cells obtained from cord blood or during amniocentesis should alleviate any religious based ethical concerns, although I have none of these concerns regarding the use of embryonic stem cells myself.

Now I think I could deal w/ that.  I don't like amnios.  They increase the miscarriage risks.  Never had amnios for that reason.

[GburgNatsFan]

It would make sense that, in this country, the promising news would be in adult stem cell research - that's what researchers here can use.

I have heard many times that the promising news in stem cell research is in adult stem cells and that embryonic ones scientifically haven't yielded as well as researchers thought they would and as well as adult ones have.

And yes Ali, same thing happened to me yesterday, too.