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Cell transplants used to ward off Parkinson's symptoms DENVER (April 17, 2002 6:44 p.m. EDT) - Doctors report they have had long-term success implanting cells into the brains of Parkinson's disease patients by passing a needle through the skull. Dr. Ray Watts, professor of neurology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, told the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology on Wednesday that patients had improved motor function - movement of their arms and legs - by up to 50 percent using this procedure. Watts implanted retinal pigment epithelial cells, which are grown by the millions after being removed from human donor retinas. These particular cells produce dopamine, normally manufactured by neurons in the brain. Levels of dopamine steadily decrease as Parkinson's progresses. "This is the first human intracerebral retinal cell implantation study in the world and we are encouraged by the results so far," Watts said. "We've been following these six participants for over a year and we've found they've improved, on average, nearly 50 percent in motor function." Patients showed improvement in tremor, stiffness, slow movement and balance, the most common motor functions affected by Parkinson's disease. In addition, half of the participants showed improvement of dyskinesia - involuntary movements that are a result of medications. In the implantation procedure, doctors use brain imaging to select specific sites to deposit the cells. Then they pass needles through the forehead and top of the skull to implant the cells. Although the incisions in the skull can be closed with either a single suture or an ordinary adhesive bandage, Freed said, "any time you pass a needle through the brain there can be complications." Freed said in one case a fatal infection occurred. He said such infections could be expected in one of every 500 needle passes. In his series of patients, he has seen the infection once in more than 300 needle passes. In another study, Dr. Curt Freed, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, provided updated information on 34 patients who have undergone fetal cell transplants of dopamine-producing cells in the brain. His patients have lived with the cell transplants for as long as eight years - including a 58-year-old electrician who was working on the 34th floor of North Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 when the first plane crashed into the upper floors of the building. "He walked down 33 flights of stairs, emerging outside just minutes before the second tower collapsed. He then ran eight blocks out of the debris field and walked 3 miles to Penn Station in Midtown," Freed said. The patient had been completely off medication, his well-documented Parkinson's controlled only by those cells implanted in his brain, he added. "Fetal cells are the best form of cells for this procedure," Freed said, but acknowledged a lack of available fetal material - it takes the cells harvested from the remains of four fetuses to supply enough cells to implant in Parkinson's patients. Freed said his study also appears to work best in younger patients - those under age 60. Overall, such patients showed about a 40 percent improvement in symptoms based on standard evaluation scales. Patients 60 and over experienced a 15 percent overall improvement, he said. The improvements appear to be about equal to those seen with standard drugs, such as levodopa, the standard for Parkinson's. Freed said, however, the effective time that levodopa works continually shrinks, requiring higher doses of the medication with a risk of more severe side effects. Watts said his patients also appear to reach the same level of improvement seen with levodopa. Using retinal pigment endothelial cells has advantages over fetal cell transplants in that the cells can be grown in huge numbers, so fewer donor organs are needed, Watts said, adding that cells from the eyes of donors eliminates the controversy associated with using cells from aborted fetuses. By ED SUSMAN, UPI Science News Copyright 2001 Nando Media Copyright 2002 United Press International http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/v-text/story/366069p-2957913c.html janet paterson: an akinetic rigid subtype, albeit perky, parky pd: 55/41/37 cd: 55/44/43 tel: 613 256 8340 email: [log in to unmask] smail: 375 Country Street, Almonte, Ontario, Canada, K0A 1A0 a new voice: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn