Placenta, like umbilical cord blood and umbilical cord, is a valuable source of stem cells. In the last decade, there has been an increase in the number of clinical trials worldwide using placental cell preparations in the treatment of various diseases. Here it is worth noting that Ukrainian scientists, including employees of the Institute of Cell Therapy, have been working with the placenta as a raw material for the production of effective medicines for about 50 years.
In June 2024, the scientific journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine published an article by Rebecca Lim et al based on the results of a clinical study in which amniotic epithelial cells obtained from the placenta were used in patients with compensated liver cirrhosis. The project is registered in the Australian Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR12616000437460).
So far, colleagues from Australia have treated 9 patients who were divided into 3 groups. The first group received placental cells in a dose of 0.5 × 106/kg intravenously, the second – twice the dose, and the third – 1 × 106/kg twice. No serious side effects were noted by doctors. Cell therapy made it possible to achieve a decrease in the level of the FIB-4 parameter on day 56, which indicates a decrease in the degree of liver fibrosis, that is, the amount of connective tissue, which in cirrhosis replaces the functional parenchyma of the organ. A decrease in such a marker of cell damage as AST and the degree of fibrosis according to USG was also noted. In 4 patients, the pressure gradient in the portal vein also decreased, which is a marker of portal hypertension. Thus, the scientists concluded about the prospects of further research in the direction of the development of methods of cell therapy of liver cirrhosis and the feasibility of conducting cell therapy for wider groups of patients (source: https://academic.oup.com/stcltm/article/13/6/522/ 7645779)
Ukrainian doctors from the Institute of Cell Therapy have also gained positive clinical experience with the use of stem cells of perinatal tissues (umbilical cord blood, umbilical cord, placenta) in the treatment of liver cirrhosis and viral hepatitis. And using the above-mentioned amniotic membrane, which is obtained from the placenta, scientists of the Institute of Cell Therapy developed a method of treating gunshot and mine-explosive wounds for Ukrainian soldiers (more at the link https://cryobank.ua/uk/news-uk/ukrayinskyh-voyiniv -likuyut-iz-vykorystannyam-tkanynnyh-preparativ-platsenty-vygotovlenyh-ikt/). Also, for many years in Ukraine, the amniotic membrane obtained from the placenta, processed by the Cryobank of the Institute of Cell Therapy, is used in ophthalmological operations, including after gunshot wounds to the organ of vision (more at the link https://cryobank.ua/uk/news-uk/ukrayinskyh -voyiniv-likuyut-iz-vykorystannyam-tkanynnyh-preparativ-platsenty-vygotovlenyh-ikt/).
It was in Ukraine that the stem cells of the placenta, processed by the Cryobank of the Institute of Cell Therapy, were injected intracardially for the first time in the world during an aortocoronary bypass surgery at the Amosov Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery of AMNU with a positive clinical effect (https://stemcellbank.org.ua/vpervye-v-mire-stvolovye-kletki-placenty-obrabotanye-v-ikt-vosstanovili-beznadezhno-porazhennoe-serdce/).
Also, Ukrainian scientists from the Institute of Cell Therapy, together with Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 4 and the Gromashevsky Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases of AMNU achieved a breakthrough in the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome – a life-threatening lung injury caused by COVID-19 by the method of introducing stem cells of the placenta (more at the link https://cryobank.ua/uk/news-uk/ukrayinski-vcheni-instytutu-klitynnoyi-terapiyi-domoglysya-proryvu-u-likuvanni-vazhkyh-uskladnen-pislya-covid-19). And even a legendary football player Andriy Shevchenko confirmed effectiveness of the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint through the introduction of mesenchymal stem cells of the human placenta, cryopreserved by the Cryobank of the Institute of Cell Therapy
(more at the link https://www.stemcellclinic.com/andrij-shevchenko-pro-dosvid-likuvannya-stovburovymy-klitynamy-v-klinitsi-instytutu-klitynnoyi-terapiyi/).
The possibility of preserving the stem cells of the placenta, umbilical cord blood, and umbilical cord, as well as their use in the treatment of diseases, is also available in Ukraine at the Ukraine’s first Cryobank and the Institute of Cell Therapy clinics.
