Parkinson’s disease is caused by decreased levels of dopamine, a chemical produced in the brain that is responsible for maintaining fluid movement and motor control, and also affects memory, pleasure and motivation. In Parkinson’s disease, the progressive loss of dopamine-producing cells can cause a range of motor and non-motor symptoms experienced by people living with the disease, significantly affecting a person’s quality of life, relationships and ability to perform certain functions. It is estimated that by the time a person is formally diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, they have already lost about half of their dopamine neurons.
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Current medications for Parkinson’s disease usually involve symptomatic treatment aimed at relieving motor symptoms (eg, tremors) by administering artificial forms of dopamine (eg, levodopa). However, disease-modifying treatments aimed at stopping progression and addressing the underlying cause of the disease are currently lacking. Treatments that harness the power of stem cells have come into the spotlight recently for their innovative and promising approaches to replacing and restoring those dopamine neurons that are gradually lost in the brains of people living with Parkinson’s disease.
What are stem cells?
Stem cells can be considered as universal cells or the building blocks of our organs. These are the cells that branch out and become all other cells, including brain, skin, and muscle cells.Recently, researchers have begun to focus on stem cells as a potential way to replace damaged or lost dopamine-producing cells. There are various sources of stem cells, including adult, embryonic, and induced pluripotent stem cells. Adult stem cells are found throughout the body, where they constantly replace lost or damaged cells.
It has even been estimated that our adult stem cells regenerate and replace 330 billion cells in our body every day (approximately 1% of all cells in the body). However, adult stem cells are limited and can only replace the cell types of the organ in which they are normally found, and the stem cells in our brains are not active enough to replace the cells damaged by Parkinson’s disease.
On the other hand, umbilical cord stem cells can generate any type of cell throughout the human body (including brain cells), making them an interesting tool for therapeutic research.
Induced pluripotent stem cells are stem cells that are created in the laboratory by taking publicly available cells (such as skin cells) from human tissue and turning them back into a stem cell state. These stem cells can then be used to create any type of cell (such as dopamine-producing cells) and transplanted back into the body.
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Clinical studies conducted on people with Parkinson’s disease have shown that stem cell-based treatments are safe and improve symptoms of the disease. The results of this clinical trial were officially confirmed by the pharmaceutical companies Bayer AG and BlueRock Therapeutics LP at the International Congress on Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In the study, 42 people with Parkinson’s disease received a high or low dose of dopamine-producing stem cell-derived cells.
The results show that the treatment was well tolerated without any major safety concerns. And after 5-7 months, participants experienced improvement in Parkinson’s disease symptoms, with those who received the higher dose showing greater improvement.
How are stem cells useful in treating Parkinson’s disease?
The main mechanisms of stem cells are reduction of inflammation (including neuroinflammation) and modulation of the immune system. Stem cell therapy aims to prevent disease progression over the long term through immunomodulation. A secondary benefit of stem cell treatment for Parkinson’s disease is helping to restore the normal function of dopamine-producing brain cells lost in Parkinson’s disease, as well as improving motor symptoms, tremors, stiffness and difficulty moving.
Despite significant advances in the symptomatic treatment of these diseases, which improve quality of life and survival, available drugs are likely to slow the progression of neuronal death by only a few months. The idea of using cell therapy to treat neurodegenerative diseases has been around for decades, especially in the case of Parkinson’s disease, where various cell transplantation studies have met with success.
According to a recent study by Nathan P. Staff et al.: “The exact mechanism by which MSCs may exert beneficial effects on neurological diseases is still being elucidated, but it appears that several different mechanisms may contribute.”
First, MSCs have been shown to secrete neurotrophic growth factors, including glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), vascular endothelial growth factor, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which can be further enhanced under certain culture conditions. Neurotrophic growth factors have been shown to improve neuronal survival in a number of preclinical models of neuronal injury, as well as models of nerve injury.
Second, MSCs strongly modulate the immune system and can promote wound healing, and this mechanism has been used in diseases such as graft-versus-host disease and Crohn’s disease. From a neurodegenerative perspective, it is increasingly clear that neuroinflammation plays a significant pathomechanical role.”
Some more clinical results of PD treatment with stem cells:PATIENTS REVIEWS AFTER PARKINSON’S STEM CELLS THERAPY
Is stem cell therapy effective for Parkinson’s disease?
Stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease is still considered experimental and more research is needed to bring it into a validated and accessible treatment protocol.
However, preclinical and clinical studies using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have shown impressive benefits in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, including :
Replacement or restoration of lost or damaged dopamine-producing brain cells.
Improve motor function and reduce symptoms such as tremors, stiffness and difficulty moving.
Reducing inflammation and oxidative stress in the brain, which is thought to contribute to the development of Parkinson’s disease.
Improved immune system function leads to stabilization of the condition or potentially long-term remission.
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