Adult stem cells help Alzheimer’s
A recent study seems to show that stem cells derived from umbilical cords can help treat Alzheimer’s in mice. Next stem, humans.
Scientists have found that targeted immune suppression using stem cells derived from human umbilical cord blood may reduce the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study published in the March issue of Stem Cells and Development.
For the study, researchers had administered a series of low-dose infusions of umbilical cord blood cells into mice with abnormalities mimicking Alzheimer’s disease, according to a Mar. 27 news release by Cryo-Cell International, Inc., which funded the study. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive and incurable brain disease that affects more than five million people in the United States alone.
According to the organization’s announcement, researchers found that the two main markers of Alzheimer’s progression in the brain were reduced as a result of the infusions – myloid-beta proteins by 62 percent and cerebral amyloid angiopathy by 86 percent.
“The scientific community has only skimmed the surface in uncovering the many potential therapeutic uses for cord blood stem cells, and this new research in Alzheimer’s disease may pave the way for discoveries around the use of these cells for a host of neurodegenerative and other chronic conditions,” stated Mercedes Walton, chairman and CEO of Cryo-Cell International.
