Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than one million people in the United States, with approximately 90,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Although available treatments can help manage symptoms, there is currently no cure\u00a0or\u00a0therapy proven to slow\u00a0the progression of the\u00a0disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Parkinson’s disease is associated with reduced dopamine release in\u00a0the\u00a0brain.\u00a0Dopamine is a neurotransmitter essential for movement, memory,\u00a0mood\u00a0and other functions.\u00a0Research has\u00a0shown that the tremors, stiffness, slow\u00a0movement\u00a0and other symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are caused by the progressive loss of dopamine-producing brain cells, disrupting the brain’s ability to regulate movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Keck Medicine of USC\u00a0is\u00a0conducting\u00a0an early phase\u00a0clinical trial\u00a0investigating\u00a0the safety and effectiveness of\u00a0implanting\u00a0specialized stem cells\u00a0into the brain\u00a0that have been\u00a0programmed\u00a0to\u00a0replace damaged\u00a0brain\u00a0cells and\u00a0produce dopamine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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If the brain can once again produce normal levels of dopamine, Parkinson’s\u00a0disease\u00a0may\u00a0be slowed\u00a0down\u00a0and\u00a0motor function\u00a0restored.”<\/p>\n
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Brian Lee,\u00a0MD,\u00a0PhD,\u00a0neurosurgeon with Keck Medicine\u00a0and\u00a0principal\u00a0investigator of the study<\/p>\n
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Unique stem cell therapy\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0therapy is a\u00a0relatively new\u00a0type of lab-generated stem cell called induced pluripotent stem cells<\/a> (iPSCs).\u00a0Unlike embryonic stem cells<\/a>,\u00a0iPCSs\u00a0are adult cells, such as skin or blood cells, reprogrammed to a “blank slate” state capable of evolving into any type of cell.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We believe that\u00a0these\u00a0iPSCs\u00a0can\u00a0reliably\u00a0mature into dopamine-producing brain\u00a0cells,\u00a0and\u00a0offer the best chance of jump-starting the brain’s\u00a0dopamine\u00a0production,” said\u00a0Xenos Mason, MD, a neurologist who specializes in\u00a0Parkinson’s disease and other\u00a0movement disorders with Keck Medicine and co-principal investigator of the study.\u00a0<\/p>\n During the procedure,\u00a0Lee\u00a0drills\u00a0a small hole in the patient’s\u00a0skull to access the\u00a0brain, then\u00a0precisely\u00a0implants\u00a0the stem cells into the basal ganglia,\u00a0a part of the brain that controls movement,\u00a0under\u00a0the guidance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).\u00a0<\/p>\n After surgery, patients are\u00a0monitored\u00a0for 12-15 months\u00a0for\u00a0any changes in their Parkinson’s disease symptoms and for\u00a0possible side\u00a0effects\u00a0including dyskinesia\u00a0–\u00a0excess\u00a0movements\u00a0–\u00a0or infection.\u00a0The doctors will continue to\u00a0monitor\u00a0the patients\u00a0and their\u00a0Parkinson’s disease\u00a0symptoms\u00a0for up to five years.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Our ultimate\u00a0goal\u00a0is to\u00a0pioneer a technique that\u00a0can\u00a0repair\u00a0patients’\u00a0motor function and\u00a0offer\u00a0them\u00a0a better quality of life,” said Lee.\u00a0<\/p>\n Keck Medicine is one of three organizations in the United States\u00a0participating\u00a0in the clinical trial. The multisite study includes a total\u00a0of 12\u00a0participants with moderate to moderate-severe Parkinson’s disease.<\/p>\n This announcement is intended to share information about Keck Medicine’s research involvement and is not\u00a0soliciting\u00a0participants.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than one million people in the United States,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1596,3033,6783,69078,134,3193,29775,111,139,69,6919,1518,17196,20624,3422],"class_list":["post-269485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-brain","tag-cell","tag-clinical-trial","tag-dopamine","tag-health","tag-medicine","tag-neurodegenerative-disorder","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-parkinsons-disease","tag-research","tag-stem-cells","tag-therapeutics","tag-therapy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}