Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a serious, chronic and still incurable disease of the nervous system. The disease affects the motor neurons of the spinal cord and brain, which leads to muscle weakness and impaired coordination of movements. The legendary physicist Stephen Hawking suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Mesenchymal stem cells have been tested in recent years in search of effective methods of treatment for this serious disease. They are obtained from bone marrow, umbilical cord tissue, placenta, adipose tissue, etc. Some pharmaceutical companies are already marketing drugs based on mesenchymal stem cells, a number of them have already passed the 2nd phase of clinical trials.
In April 2024, in Colorado (USA), at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, the results of the 2nd phase of a clinical study, in which therapy with mesenchymal stem cells was carried out in 57 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (NCT03268603), were presented. The average age of the patients was 56 years, two-thirds of them were men. The stem cells were injected intrathecally every 3 months during a year, with each patient receiving up to 4 injections. Unfortunately, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis remains an incurable disease, but some patients have been able to slow the progression of the disease by at least 25% with the help of cell therapy. Mesenchymal stem cells of adipose tissue were used.
The side effects of cell therapy disappeared within a week, so it was concluded that intrathecal administration of mesenchymal stem cells was well tolerated by patients. In 21 of 57 patients, a 25% reduction in the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis symptoms according to the ALSFRS-R scale was noted. The results of the study will be analyzed in more depth, including the evaluation of various biomarkers of the disease. The scientists report that further research is needed to clarify the mechanism of action and clinical effectiveness of cell therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Based on: https://alsnewstoday.com/news/aan-2024-stem-cell-therapy-als-slows-disease-some-patients/
