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| age-related macular degeneration |
Study: Stem cells can control vision loss caused by macular degeneration.
Researchers from the University of Michigan have conducted a study to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD) using stem cells.
According to the Medical Xpress website, citing the Cell Stem Cell journal, approximately 20 million American adults suffer from some form of age-related macular degeneration. Although they cannot see objects directly in front of them, their peripheral vision is not affected.
What is age-related macular degeneration?
This disease, which affects people over 60, affects the central part of the retina , an area packed with cells that impact color vision. Current treatments slow the progression of the disease, but none can restore sight.
There are two types of polar macular degeneration: dry and wet. More than 90% of people with the condition suffer from the dry form, which is caused by a defect and loss of retinal pigment epithelial cells.
Researchers used retinal pigment stem cells derived from post-mortem adult eye tissue in a Phase I/II clinical trial. These trials are used in their early stages to determine the safety of a therapeutic intervention.
In the current study, patients with advanced dry AMD received transplanted stem cells, originally isolated from eye bank tissue. These adult stem cells were specialized and could only develop into retinal pigment epithelial cells.
Six patients received fewer stem cells (50,000 cells) through eye surgery. In all of these cases, the treatment was safe and did not cause serious infections or multiple tumors.
Study results
Participants experienced improved vision in the eye where the stem cells were transplanted , while the other eye did not, suggesting that this could provide a new therapeutic avenue.
A high degree of improvement in vision was observed in the most severely affected patients who sought stem cell-derived pigment transplantation, while this level of improvement in vision was not observed in this group of patients with advanced polar atrophy.
The team is now following 12 patients who received intermediate doses of 150,000 and 250,000 cells..
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