The injection of a type of stem cell into the brains of patients living with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) is safe, well-tolerated, and has a lasting effect that appears to protect the brain against further damage, according to an early-phase trial published today in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Aravinthan - EM
Aravinthan Varatharaj
Clinical Lecturer in Neurology, University of Southampton.
This study shows that it is possible to inject stem cells directly into the brains of people with multiple sclerosis. The procedure was generally well-tolerated. The researchers hope that in the future this technique can be used to repair or regrow nerve cells in the brain. However, we do not yet have any good evidence that this is possible. Whilst this study showed that patients did not experience significant disease progression after treatment, there are other possible explanations for this, and this was not a controlled trial. Also, most patients still had evidence of disease activity on MRI scans, suggesting that this treatment did not fully suppress brain inflammation.
"I am involved in trials of disease-modifying treatments for progressive multiple sclerosis".
- Research article
- Peer reviewed
- Non-randomized
- People
Leone et al.
- Research article
- Peer reviewed
- Non-randomized
- People