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‘Menstrual Blood’ May Save Life

Depicts the variation through the menstrual cy...Image via Wikipedia

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Many refer to it as ‘nature’s curse on women’. It’s commonly thought of as unclean. In some cultures, women are not even allowed to cook during those days of month. But, path-breaking new research could change the way people view the menstrual cycle. And it’s here in India, for the first time ever. The blood that uselessly leaks away from a woman’s body every month until she hits menopause is a good source of stem cells, which are still at an early stage of development and retain the potential to turn into many different types of cell.

Stem cell research classifies them as a super “repair kit” for the body because they can be used to grow new fat, cartilage, bone, skin, heart and brain cells. Japan and American researchers say menstrual blood could actually be banked and used to save lives. It is supposed to contain adult stem cells that can develop into any of nine different types of cells, including heart, lung, nerve and muscle.

Ajit Kumar is chief scientific officer of LifeCell International, India’s biggest stem cell banking facility and the first in the country to launch a menstrual stem cell banking facility. He says, “The menstrual stem cell comes from the uterine lining (endometrium) that is shed as part of a woman’s menstrual period.”

Research is ongoing but if established as a success, it would be a huge advance for stem cell research. Stem cell therapy has become controversial in some parts of the world beca-use scientists believe the most useful ones come from embryos. Adult stem cells are rare in mature tissue. But if they are sourced from hitherto-useless, “unclean” menstrual blood, it would redefine the woman’s role as life-giver.

The master stem cell is the zygote and all of human life really begins here. A zygote is created when an egg is fertilised. Thereafter, this master stem cell multiplies as the embryo develops into millions of cells, including a large number of other stem cells. Less specialised stem cells become ever more so with the process continuing throughout pregnancy to create different cells — skin, muscle, nerve or bone. Throughout the life, the body continues to produce stem cells. Kumar says menstrual stem cells are similar to those from bone marrow and embryos, with the added bonus of even faster replication and higher compatibility.

It is an amazing bit of news for stem cell therapy, which is gaining ground across the world as a wonder cure for Parkinson’s, Alz-heimer’s, heart disease, diabetes, spinal cord damage and much more. Till now, umbilical cord stem cells have been used in 8,000 transplant operations worldwide, says Cryo-Cell a leading global stem cell banking company.

During lab tests, scientists created different types of cells from menstrual stem cells or endometrial regenerative cells (ERCs) as they are known. Within five days, fledgling heart cells had been generated. Kumar says this showed ERCs may be a source of patient-specific stem cells.

It is not hard to bank menstrual blood. The procedure is almost the same as giving a urine sample. Kumar says it may be easier to harvest stem cells from menstrual blood than bone marrow or skin because it is a painless and non-invasive procedure. “Unlike cord blood stem cells, where the cells are frozen directly after extraction, here the blood is expanded before being stored,” he explains.

Preliminary research suggests that menst-rual stem cells could be used to cure a woman’s genetic family, such as parents, sibling or child.

Sources: The Times Of India

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Wonder Cells, Made in India

Diagram of stem cell division and differentiation.Image via Wikipedia

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Indian scientists have succeeded in producing stem cells, opening up the possibility of cost-effective treatment for some serious medical conditions.

India is finally on the international stem cell map. The country, known so far in this regard for a few unscrupulous private clinics doling out untested “stem cell-based” miracle therapies, has finally something to offer with two independent research groups in Bangalore and Mumbai harvesting stem cells from human embryos.

While researchers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) in Bangalore have derived quality embryonic stem cells from discarded human embryos, the Mumbai team led by Deepa Bhartiya of the National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (NIRRH) managed to do it from normal embryos. Both groups developed two stem cell lines each, taking the total number of embryonic stem cell lines reported from India to five. About three years ago, the Mumbai-based Reliance Life Science Private Ltd claimed it developed the country’s first stem cell line, but very little is known about the firm’s progress in the field.

Both the papers are set to appear in a forthcoming issue of the journal Stem Cells and Development.

The development would mean that scientists in India will now have indigenous stem cells for research and for developing therapies. Apart from aiding research on how they are formed and differentiate into different cell types, stem cells hold the promise of treatment for some of the most serious medical conditions, including cancers and birth defects.

Independent experts believe it is a significant step as a demonstration of India’s capability in the stem cell field, but also that it is too early to talk about potential clinical applications. “The proof of the pudding lies in its eating,” says Mitradas Panicker, a biologist at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore.

Embryonic stem cells, which can be grown into a dazzling array of cell types that make a human being, are generally derived from healthy but surplus embryos obtained from donors attending fertility clinics for treatment. The sheer fact that healthy embryos are used for such research and therapeutic purposes has invited a lot of criticism from ethics watchers.

But ethical issues can now be avoided. Led by Dr Maneesha Inamdar, the JNCASR researchers have harvested potent embryonic stem cells from low-quality human embryos thrown away by fertility clinics. The achievement opens up a whole new resource for embryos that can be used in stem cell research.

“During any in vitro fertilisation, 6 to 12 embryos are produced. Out of these, only one or two are used. While the good embryos are frozen and preserved for future use, those which are slow to develop or are defective are discarded,” says Inamdar. “These embryos can be used for deriving embryonic stem cells.” According to her, very few groups in the world have reported such use for discarded embryos. The embryos were obtained from a local fertility clinic, the Bangalore Assisted Conception Centre.

On the other hand, the NIRRH team used both healthy and “slow growing” surplus embryos procured with the informed consent of patients for developing stem cells. Doctors from various fertility clinics including Indira Hinduja, an IVF expert, were part of the group.

The JNCASR team tested the potency of the stem cells they derived by making them differentiate into heart muscle cells, says Inamdar. The cardiac cells continue to show rhythmic contractions and have survived for more than two months in a culture medium. Besides, this process of differentiating stem cells into human heart muscle cells is very cost effective, as it does not require any expensive growth factors. More importantly, such muscle cells can be grown in large numbers and frozen for future use.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Ageing Muscle ‘Given New Vigour’

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Scientists have found a way to give old, tired muscles a new lease of life.
Stem cells play a key role in repairing muscle……CLICK & SEE

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They tweaked biochemical signals in mice to boost the ability of the animal’s stem cells to repair damaged tissue, restoring its youthful vigour.

The breakthrough raises hopes of new treatments for age-related degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

The study, by the University of California, Berkeley, is published in the journal Nature.

“We are one step closer to having a point of intervention where we can rejuvenate the body’s own stem cells so we don’t have to suffer from some of the debilitating diseases associated with ageing” says Dr Morgan Carlson , University of California, Berkeley

Adult stem cells play a key role in helping to repair the mature, differentiated cells that make up the body’s working tissues.

The Berkeley team identified two key regulatory pathways that control how well adult stem cells carry out their repair work.

They were then able to modify the way stem cells reacted to those biochemical signals to revive the ability of muscle tissue in old mice to repair itself nearly as well as the muscle in the mice’s much younger counterparts.

Using adult stem cells to rejuvenate tissue would eliminate the ethical controversy surrounding the use of cells taken or derived from embryos.

Researcher Dr Morgan Carlson said: “We are one step closer to having a point of intervention where we can rejuvenate the body’s own stem cells so we don’t have to suffer from some of the debilitating diseases associated with ageing.”

Regeneration capacity
The Berkeley team compared muscle regeneration capacity of two-year-old mice – comparable in age to a human aged 75-85 – to that in two-month old mice, comparable to a human aged 20-25.

As expected, they found the muscle tissue in the young mice easily replaced damaged cells with healthy new cells, while areas of damaged muscle in the older animals was full of scar tissue.

But when they effectively disabled the “ageing pathway” by blocking production of a key protein called TGF-beta, the level of cellular regeneration in the older animals was comparable the much younger mice.

However, the researchers warned that closing down the ageing pathway completely could run a risk of many health problems, for instance the ability to suppress cell division is key to controlling the development of cancer.

Lead researcher Dr Irina Conboy said the key was to find the right balance between the biochemical pathway which promoted healing, and that which promoted ageing.

“We need to find out what the levels of these chemicals are in the young so we can calibrate the system when we’re older.

“If we can do that, we could rejuvenate tissue repair for a very long time.”

Rebecca Wood, of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said: “Since Alzheimer’s causes brain cells to gradually die, research into ways to regenerate them could eventually lead to revolutionary new treatments for this devastating disease.

“More research is needed as this study was conducted on muscle tissue rather than the complex nerve cells in the brain and there are many health problems associated with the suppression of cell division.”

Dr Susanne Sorensen, of the Alzheimer’s Society, said the research was interesting as it had recently been shown that stem cells in the brain might be able to help create new tissue after damage has been done.

“This new research gives further hope that our own stem cells can be used to help regenerate cells in the body.”

Sources: BBC NEWS:June 19, ’08.

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Bionic Eye ‘Blindness Cure Hope’

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A ‘bionic eye‘ may hold the key to returning sight to people left blind by a hereditary disease, experts believe.

………………………..click & see

………………………………The treatment is being tested in clinical trials

A team at London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital have carried out the treatment on the UK’s first patients as part of a clinical study into the therapy.

The artificial eye, connected to a camera on a pair of glasses, has been developed by US firm Second Sight.

It said the technique may be able to restore a basic level of vision, but experts warned it was still early days.

The trial aims to help people who have been made blind through retinitis pigmentosa, a group of inherited eye diseases that affects the retina.

The disease progresses over a number of years, normally after people have been diagnosed when they are children.

It is estimated between 20,000 to 25,000 are affected in the UK.

It is not known whether the treatment has helped the two patients to see and any success is only likely to be in the form of light and dark outlines, but doctors are optimistic.

Lyndon da Cruz, the eye surgeon who carried out the operations last week, said the treatment was “exciting”.

“The devices were implanted successfully in both patients and they are recovering well from the operations.”

Other patients across Europe and the US have also been involved in the trial.

Electronic

The bionic eye, known as Argus II, works via the camera which transmits a wireless signal to an ultra-thin electronic receiver and electrode panel that are implanted in the eye and attached to the retina.

The electrodes stimulate the remaining retinal nerves allowing a signal to be passed along the optic nerve to the brain.

David Head, chief executive of the British Retinitis Pigmentosa Society, said: “This treatment is very exciting, but it is still early days.

“There is currently no treatment for patients so this device and research into stem cells therapies offers the best hope.”

“This treatment is very exciting, but it is still early days” …. says David Head, of the British Retinitis Pigmentosa Society

CLICK TO SEE ALSO :->
Sight-saving injection approved

Woman ‘denied sight-save drugs’

NHS criticised on blindness cure

Man in NHS battle ‘to save sight’

Second Sight

British Retinis Pigmentosa Society

Sources:BBC NEWS:21st. April,’08

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Stem Cells To Cure Vascular Disease

SEOUL: South Korean scientists said Monday they used human embryonic stem cells to treat mice suffering from a vascular disease, in an experiment that could lead to cures for strokes and other ailments.

CLICK TO SEE

The team, led by Pochon Cha University’s Chung Hyung-Min and Kim Byung-Soo of Hanyang University, said the stem cells were differentiated into blood vessels that were grafted onto the animals afflicted with ischemia.

Ischemia is caused by a shortage of blood to a part of the body, stemming from the constriction of blood vessels. Of the 11 mice treated, four developed new vascular cells that fully revived the damaged limb, while four suffered from a relatively mild case of necrosis. Three lost their legs due to the cut-off of blood flow.

Necrosis is a disease leading to the death of tissue and bone.

The findings appeared in the latest online issue of Circulation, a journal published by the American Heart Association. They showed 10 other mice given alternative treatment failed to recover.

“The findings showed that in the case of animals, the use of stem cells helped save limbs,” Chung told Yonhap news agency.

If further research is carried out, he said, it may help scientists create a wide range of blood vessels.
The professor was quoted as saying that such developments could lead to cures for human strokes, myocardial infections and foot ulcerations caused by diabetes.

More detailed research will be carried out in the next few years to find ways to treat vascular cell-related diseases.

Meanwhile, the identification of a new marker is making it possible to track brain stem cells for the first time, American researchers said. The achievement is already opening doors to new research into depression, early childhood development and multiple sclerosis.

Source:The Times Of India

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