【Current status of brain diseases and potential of stem cell treatment】
Cerebrovascular accident (CVA) is one of the brain diseases such as cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage.
These diseases have a common feature that they are caused by inflammation/exclusion due to hemorrhage or by brain tissue disorder due to ischemia. After the onset, patients would be at high risks for aftereffects of diseases such as hemiplegia, dysphagia and cognition disorders. Stem cell therapy is highly anticipated to help the patients who suffer from CVA. If transplanting the stem cells regenerates neural cells that lost their functions by CVA and neural circuits recover their normal states, it would be greatly helpful for treatment of after-effects.
【Institutes conducting with animal experiments or clinical trials】
◆ Kyoto Pharmaceutical University ◆ Osaka City University
◆ The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo
◆ Kochi University ◆ National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center
◆ Research Institute for Frontier Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine
◆ Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation Hospital
【Case : National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center】
A clinical trial in patients with cardiogenic cerebral infarction caused by moving blood clots from heart to brain has been conducted in order to evaluate the treatment for after-effects by regenerating brain vascular tissues after injection of autologous bone marrow-derived stem cells.
It is reported that 6 of 8 patients became able to walk in a half year and their cerebral blood flow increased.
【Case : Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation Hospital】
A clinical trial aimed at recovering damaged neural function by regenerating cerebrovascular network after injecting autologous bone marrow-derived stem cells has been conducted in seriously ill patients with immediately following the onset of cardiogenic cerebral infarction. This clinical trial focuses on the phenomenon that neural stem cells intend to gather around affected areas and to regenerate nerves immediately following the onset of cerebral infarction; it has been reported to improve lost neural functions due to regeneration of blood vessels to supply them with nutrients in animal experiments. It is reported that 9 of 12 patients became able to walk by own in a half year.