>Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 08:38:21 +0530 (IST)
>From: "Ms.S.Agarwal" <sarita>
>X-URL: http://www.newswise.com/articles/PARKIN.AAS.html
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: PARKIN.AAS.html
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>   16-Apr-98
>
>      Fetal Pig Cells Transplanted Into the Brain to Treat Parkinson's
>                                  Disease
>
>   Library: MED
>   Keywords: PARKINSON'S DISEASE TRANSPLANTATION FETAL PIG CELLS
>   NEUROSURGERY AANS
>   Description: For the first time in medical history, researchers have
>   transplanted fetal brain cells from pigs into humans to treat a
>   degenerative disease of the brain. Fetal pig cells have been
>   transplanted into several patients who suffer from Parkinson's
>   Disease. Results of this research will be presented at the Annual
>   Meeting of The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) on
>   Monday, April 27, 1998 in Philadelphia.
>   [INLINE]
>   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>   April 14, 1998
>   CONTACT:
>   Barbara Peck
>   (847) 692-9500
>   Fetal Pig Cells Transplanted Into Brain to Treat Parkinson's Disease
>   For the first time in medical history, researchers have transplanted
>   fetal brain cells from pigs into humans to treat a degenerative
>   disease of the brain. Fetal pig cells have been transplanted into
>   several patients who suffer from Parkinson's Disease. Results of this
>   research will be presented at the Annual Meeting of The American
>   Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) on Monday, April 27, 1998
>   in Philadelphia.
>   This research marks the first time brain cells from an animal have
>   been transplanted into a human. Investigators will present the one
>   year follow-up data on 12 patients who have had moderate to severe
>   Parkinson's Disease for an average of 13.9 years and received the
>   treatment.
>   "We are very excited about this research because our results have been
>   positive and this method of treatment has the potential to help not
>   only Parkinson's patients, but also patients with other degenerative
>   brain diseases like Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Lou Gehrig's
>   Diseases," neurosurgeon James Schumacher, MD, who is the primary
>   author of the paper being presented at the AANS Annual Meeting, said.
>   Parkinson's Disease affects over 1 million people in the United States
>   and is characterized by tremor, slowness in movement, difficulty
>   walking, balance problems, difficulty writing and holding objects.
>   Prominent suffers of the disease include Pope John Paul II, US
>   Attorney General Janet Reno, and boxer Muhammed Ali.
>   Parkinson's Disease is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.
>   Normally, the substantia nigra part of the brain produces two
>   chemicals, dopamine and acetylcholine, in equal amounts. These
>   chemicals are called neurotransmitters and are sent to the striatum,
>   another part of the brain, that controls movement and balance. When
>   the body wants to make a movement, anything from walking to picking up
>   a cup of coffee, the striatum releases these neurotransmitters through
>   the nervous system to the appropriate muscles, producing smooth,
>   coordinated movement within a fraction of a second.
>   In Parkinson's Disease, the cells in the brain that produce dopamine
>   begin to die, leading to an imbalance between the two
>   neurotransmitters. This imbalance causes the shaking, hesitant
>   movements that characterize Parkinsonian patients. Researchers do not
>   know the cause of Parkinson's Disease.
>   "Parkinson's Disease comes on slowly and at first may be as simple as
>   an annoying shaking in the hands," said Douglas Kondziolka, MD,
>   Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh and a
>   leading expert in Parkinson's Disease treatment. "But as time goes on,
>   patients cannot write, cannot drink from a glass and have great
>   difficulty in producing the muscle movements needed to walk."
>   Treatment for Parkinson's Disease traditionally has included
>   medications to reduce the amount of acetylcholine in the brain or to
>   force the remaining cells to produce more dopamine than normal to
>   restore the balance. In recent years, surgical techniques such as
>   pallidotomy, thalamotomy and deep brain stimulation, have
>   significantly reduced the symptoms of Parkinson's in patients who did
>   not respond to drug therapy or who have become resistant to the
>   medications. These surgical procedures involve making lesions, or
>   cuts, in specific parts of the brain in order to prevent the symptoms
>   of Parkinson's Disease, such as tremor.
>   "With cell transplantation, instead of deconstructing, we are
>   reconstructing," Dr. Schumacher said. "The cells we implant are
>   actually producing dopamine and, therefore, are repairing the brain,
>   not just the helping to rebalance neural activity."
>   In cell transplantation, cells are taken from fetal, or unborn,
>   developing, pigs and are transplanted into a human brain. These cells
>   are primitive and are not fully developed.
>   "The timing is extremely important," Dr. Schumacher said. "We need the
>   cells to be primitive so they are not yet developing dopamine, but
>   they have to be just about ready to start. At the point we take the
>   cells, they have not yet been differentiated from human brain cells."
>   Transplanting human fetal cells has been researched is also being
>   studied, but the lack of availability of these cells have hampered
>   these efforts. In Dr. Schumacher's research, both fetal pig cells and
>   patients were treated with anti-rejection methods and no overt signs
>   of rejection or untoward events have been seen. Heart valves from pigs
>   have been used for human transplantation in the past with significant
>   success and little rejection problems.
>   "This research is a stepping stone and is something that we will
>   continue to investigate more thoroughly over the next few years," Dr.
>   Schumacher said.
>   # # #
>   To view the entire 1998 AANS Annual Meeting press kit, please visit
>   the on-line Press Room located in the Virtual Exhibit Hall:
>   http://server400.aans.org/VEH/mainhall2.html
>   Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, The American
>   Association of Neurological Surgeons is a scientific and educational
>   association, with approximately 5,000 members in the United States,
>   Canada, Mexico, Europe and the Pacific Rim. It is dedicated to
>   advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to provide
>   the highest quality of neurosurgical care to the public. All active
>   members must be certified by the American Board of Neurological
>   Surgery.
>   For more information on The American Association of Neurological
>   Surgeons, please visit our Web site: www.neurosurgery.org
>   # # #
>   [INLINE]
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Sarita
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