Stem Cells More Effective Than Those From Aborted Babies
By Patrick Goodenough  CNS London Bureau Chief
April 09, 2001
London (CNSNews.com) - New research in the UK has raised
further hope that stem cells can be used to repair the damage
caused by strokes to brain cells, British scientists heard Monday.

Experiments carried out on rats indicate that transplants of stem
cells - the "building blocks" of bodily tissue - can help stroke
victims regain movement, senses and understanding.

They also show that the cells were more effective than cells from
aborted babies, which have been at the center of a recent scare
involving the treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease.

The researchers are presenting their findings Monday to the
British Neuroscience Association's annual conference in
northern England, and published them in the Stroke Journal.

The potential of stem cells to develop and translate into other
types of cells has excited scientists worldwide, raising hopes
they may be able to help undo the damage of strokes and help
cure degenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

But the issue has also raised controversy, primarily in that many
researchers want to harvest stem cells from human embryos,
believing them to offer the greatest benefits. Other specialists
argue that "adult stem cells" - taken for example from umbilical
cords - offer an effective, and ethical alternative.

The use of embryos for the purpose of harvesting stem cells
alarms pro-lifers.

The early-stage human beings are destroyed after the stem cells
have been removed. Adding to the debate is the recent approval
by the UK government of cloning of human embryos for this
limited purpose. An Italian scientist has already announced his
intention to clone a human being within a year.

When a person has a stroke, blood supply is cut off from areas
of brain tissue, leading to the loss of many mature cells, and often
leaving the patient unable to control his or her movements.

The new study, by researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry in
London and a biotechnology company, showed that transplanted
stem cells made their way to whichever area of the damaged brain
needed repair.

The cells also appeared to boost the production of an important
protein that usually increases after a stroke as the brain attempts
to heal itself, helping to connect damaged and undamaged parts
of the organ.

The experimental rats' movement and cognitive abilities improved
after the introduction of the stem cells, the researchers found.

The movement of stem cells to the damaged area of the brain differs
from the behavior of fetal stem cells, which they say remain in one
place when transplanted.

Scientists in the United States have been injecting cells from
aborted babies into the brains of Parkinson's patients, but it was
reported in early March that the experiment was being abandoned
after side-effects described as "absolutely devastating" were
observed.

"We expect that stem cells will prove far safer and more flexible
for repair of brain damage than primary fetal cells," research leader
Dr. Helen Hodges was quoted as saying.

"They are not likely to worsen symptoms, as recently reported in
elderly Parkinson patients."

The British study comes in the wake of an earlier one by the
Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, which came to
similar conclusions, as did another last year by the Institute for
Stem Cell Research in Milan, Italy.

Researchers at the University of South Florida in Tampa have also
found that stem cells from the tiny amount of blood found in the
umbilical cords of newborn babies may be able to help repair
damaged brain tissue after a stroke.

The research has provided further weight to arguments that adult
stem cells may hold sufficient potential to make it unnecessary to
use embryonic cells - or to use therapeutic research as justification
to allow embryonic cloning.

Some scientists continue to assert that the use and efficacy of
embryonic cells should be fully explored before being discarded.

They also argue that the cloning of an embryo is the best way to
obtain a perfect match for the patient from whose DNA the clone
was manufactured.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=%5CForeignBureaus%5Carchive%5C200104%5CFor20010409g.html

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