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Infant eye cells used to treat Parkinson's


By <mailto:[log in to unmask]>PATRICIA GUTHRIE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


Cells retrieved from the eye of an infant who died shortly after birth hold
promise for adults suffering from advanced Parkinson's disease, a new Emory
University study shows.


Six patients with the progressive neurological disease regained some
coordination, movement and other improvements after receiving the eye cells.


Results were released Tuesday at the annual American Academy of Neurology
meeting in Honolulu, attended by some 10,000 specialists. The 40 percent
improvement in motor function continues today in the six patients, most of
whom are from Georgia, two years after receiving the new therapy.


"It's not a cure," cautioned Dr. Ray Watts, lead researcher and director of
Emory School of Medicine's movement disorders program. "It's a therapy
treating symptoms. It's promising and obviously warrants further study."


Emory will oversee a second study involving eight medical centers and 68
patients. The research is being funded by the National Institutes of Health
and Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc.


Parkinson's disease causes tremors, stiffness, slowness of movement and a
"stone face" and affects other functions, such as handwriting. It occurs
when cells in the brain produce less and less dop-


amine, which helps transmit signals within the brain. It affects about 1
million Americans.


Most therapy for Parkinson's is aimed at restoring dopamine. However, drugs
supplying dopamine usually lose their effect after several years, Watts said.


Watts' small study used cells called retinal pigment epithelial from a
deceased infant whose organs had been donated for transplants. Infant cells
are needed because they're highly concentrated and free of disease and
infections, Watts explained. The cells grow in layers like skin and can be
endlessly reproduced in the lab from one retina.


The patients in this study each received 325,000 cells on one side of their
brains. These cells are attached to tiny microscopic beads, called
Spheramine, and injected in numerous places in the brain on one side after
a tiny hole is drilled in the skull. Patients in the study continued to
take a lower dose of their dopamine medication.


Watts said his experiment is the first one of its kind in the world using
retinal cells to control disease. It provides an alternative to the
technique using fetal stem cells, which is mired in controversy and politics.


Although the study only involved six patients, it showed better results
than previous studies on Parkinson's patients using fetal stem cells, said
Dr. J. William Langston, CEO and scientific director of the Parkinson's
Institute in California.


"This represents an excellent example of an alternative cell therapy that
could replace stem cells," Langston said. "Stem cells are not the only game
in town for cellular replacement therapy. Ultimately, we don't care if it's
stem cells or retinal cells as long as it's effective and safe."


No side effects have been seen in the patients receiving retinal cells,
Watts said.


The patients showed a reduction in their tremors and stiffness and
improvements in movement and balance. Researchers concluded they
experienced a 41 percent improvement in motor function and 39 percent
improvement in quality of life.


In the coming clinical trial, patients will be randomly assigned to receive
the dopamine-producing cells on both sides of the brain or undergo an
imitation surgery so neither participants nor scientists know who received
the actual treatment.


Differences between the two groups will be compared after one year.

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