Nic:

Turner was on the infamous Prentice adult stem cell "cure"   list a couple 
of years ago and his case cited by Senator Sam Brownback on the floor of the 
US Senate as a success for adult stem cells when arguing against the Stem 
Cell Enhancement Act of 2007.   Altho I never got a response from him, J. 
Wesley Smith and Steven Ertelt have modified their characterization of 
Turner  from "cure" to "successful treatment" after I tangled with them 
on-line.

Since I thought I was through with this, I can't recall source for  DBS 
information, it was supposedly done because the ASC treatment wasn't 
approved by the FDA like DBS and Levesque said Turner was never turned on.

Now, why would anyone go through the ordeal of  DBS and not see how it 
worked.  Also, I don't think you can have 2 procedures in one study and have 
it be considered valid.

Ray

Rayilyn Brown
Director AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
[log in to unmask]

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Nic Marais" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 12:27 AM
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Important: Autologous Neural Stem Cells to Treat Parkinson's

> Thanks for clearing this up Ray. I had a mind full of questions after
> reading the related article.
>
> Regards,
>
> Nic 56/14
>
> On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 11:30 PM, rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> You should know that Dennis Turner, the sole trial subject, had this
>> treatment in 1999, with a DBS.  When I called him on 3-24-06 he told me 
>> his
>> PD had returned with a vengeance.  There is no current communication from
>> Turner as to his present condition.
>>
>> The FDA never approved of Phase II and I can only guess that because it 
>> was
>> done with DBS it is impossible to tell what accounted for his temporary
>> improvement.  Patricia Payne of MA was touted by the Family Research 
>> Council
>> and David Prentice as an  ASC "success" because she was going to be in 
>> Phase
>> II, but Phase II never happened.
>>
>> I suspect that nothing has changed since 2006 except for the peer review
>> and they are dragging this case out again to get  FDA approval and  $. 
>> Also
>> the assaults against embryonic stem cell research have intensified as 
>> Obama
>> gets ready to issue executive orders to overturn the Bush restrictions.
>>
>> I did not post this article because of these omissions.
>>
>> Ray
>>
>> Rayilyn Brown
>> Director AZNPF
>> Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> From: "schild.m" <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 3:16 AM
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: Autologous Neural Stem Cells to Treat Parkinson's
>>
>>  Groundbreaking Paper Publishes Long Term Results of a Successful Phase I
>>> Clinical Trial Using Autologous Neural Stem Cells to Treat Parkinson's
>>> Disease
>>>
>>> Last update: 9:11 a.m. EST Feb. 16, 2009
>>> LOS ANGELES, Feb 16, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Scientists 
>>> announced
>>> today the publication of a landmark peer-reviewed paper in the February
>>> issue
>>> of the Bentham Open Stem Cell Journal which outlines the long term 
>>> results
>>> of
>>> the world's first clinical trial using autologous neural stem cells for
>>> the
>>> treatment of Parkinson's disease. According to lead author, Michel F.
>>> Levesque, MD, FRCS(C), FACS, "We have documented the first successful
>>> adult
>>> neural stem cell transplantation to reverse the effects of Parkinson's
>>> disease and demonstrated the long term safety and therapeutic effects of
>>> this
>>> approach." Dr Levesque is a principal investigator for NeuroGeneration, 
>>> a
>>> biotechnology company, and is affiliated with the UCLA School of 
>>> Medicine
>>> and
>>> the Brain Research Institute.
>>> The researcher reports that the publication of the article, "Therapeutic
>>> Microinjection of Autologous Adult Human Neural Stem Cells and
>>> Differentiated
>>> Neurons for Parkinson's Disease: Five-Year Post-Operative Outcome" in 
>>> the
>>> Bentham Open Stem Cell Journal heralds an important moment in 
>>> regenerative
>>> and personalized medicine. "Our paper describes how we were able to
>>> isolate
>>> patient-derived neural stem cells, multiply them in vitro and ultimately
>>> differentiate them to produce mature neurons before they are 
>>> reintroduced
>>> into the brain's basal ganglia. This is performed without the patient
>>> requiring immunosuppressants. Of particular note are the striking 
>>> results
>>> this study yielded -- for the five years following the procedure the
>>> patient's motor scales improved by over 80% for at least 36 months. A 
>>> word
>>> of
>>> caution must be added however, since this is a single case study, a 
>>> larger
>>> clinical trial is needed to replicate these findings," says Levesque.
>>> "We have been pioneering the use of neural stem cells for
>>> neurodegenerative
>>> disorders since 1998 and were the first research team to successfully 
>>> use
>>> differentiated adult neural stem cells for the cellular restoration and
>>> treatment of Parkinson's disease. Our original methodology is based on 
>>> the
>>> replication of several steps in human neurogenesis to regenerate 
>>> millions
>>> of
>>> mature neurons characterized before transplantation. These steps are
>>> essential to establish safety, efficacy and to understand mechanisms of
>>> brain
>>> repair. The autologous approach mitigates the long term risks associated
>>> with
>>> allogenic transplants, including infection, inflammatory response, 
>>> immune
>>> rejection, and poor biologic efficacy. In addition, we believe it was 
>>> the
>>> combination of dopaminergic and GABA-ergic neurons that produced the 
>>> long-
>>> lasting motor improvement. This suggests that in humans, Parkinson's
>>> disease
>>> is more than a chronic dopaminergic dysfunction and involves the
>>> GABA-ergic
>>> system with its glial environment. The relevance of this discovery 
>>> cannot
>>> be
>>> understated because it questions the classical dopaminergic model of
>>> Parkinson's disease," says Levesque.
>>> Scientists at NeuroGeneration are planning a larger prospective clinical
>>> trial for Parkinson's disease. "It's our hope that this trial will 
>>> result
>>> in
>>> the launch of a cost-effective and lasting therapies for the millions of
>>> patients suffering from debilitating neurodegenerative disorders,"
>>> concludes
>>> Levesque.
>>> ABOUT NEUROGENERATION:
>>> NeuroGeneration, a biotechnology company, is engaged in the development 
>>> of
>>> biological products for the repair of neurological disorders. The 
>>> company
>>> has
>>> completed a Phase I clinical trial for Parkinson's disease using adult
>>> derived neural stem cells. It intends to start a Phase II study for the
>>> treatment of Parkinson's disease as soon as it received final approval
>>> from
>>> the FDA. It is also planning Phase I studies for multiple systems 
>>> atrophy,
>>> atypical parkinsonism, stroke, spinal cord and brain injuries, and
>>> Alzheimer's disease. The company was founded in 1998 and is 
>>> headquartered
>>> in
>>> Los Angeles, California.
>>>    FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
>>>    Heather Larrabee
>>>    NeuroGeneration
>>>    310.659.3880
>>>    [log in to unmask]
>>>     http://www.neurogeneration.com
>>>
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