Editorial Staff
The International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO) announced positive data on Parkinson’s disease at the 66th annual meeting of American Academy of Neurology. ISCO is a biotechnology company based in California developing many biomedical products as well as novel therapies based on stem – cell. It reported some positive behavioral improvements in pre – clinical NHP (non – human primate) PD study of 6 months. This gives a hope that stem cells could be used for treating the symptoms of the disease. Professor D. Eugene Redmond Jr. MD – study’s supervisor said that an equivalency was observed between UPDRS components (used worldwide for evaluating the PD patients) and the rating scores. There is a high correlation between the brain dopamine concentrations and the Parkinson’s score.
The study involved 18 primates divided into three groups all of which were exposed to neurotoxin. Two of these groups were treated with different hPNSC (human neural stem cells) doses obtained from ISCO’s parthenogenetic stem cell line. The hPNSC cells are multi – potent cells that have the self – renewability characteristic. Before the treatment, all the primates showed similar Parkinsonism levels and disabilities. After 6 months, the two treatment groups showed healthier scores that increased by 170% and that of the third untreated group by 58%. The changes are significant as they show good reduction in the symptoms. More details will be presented upon the completion of biodistribution analysis and histopathology.
Zainab Asif
