Stem-cell brain injections offer hope on Parkinson’s
Bernard Lagan, Sydney
September 16 2016, 12:00am,
The Times
Girish Nair, the neurosurgeon at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, said the hope was that the stem cells would boost the levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine
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Stem cells have been injected into the brain of an Australian man with Parkinson’s disease in an operation that researchers hope will lead to a cure.
Neuroscientists at the Royal Melbourne Hospital injected millions of cells into the man’s brain through two 1.5cm holes in his skull. The delicate and risky procedure took eight hours.
The dangers to the patient, who is 64, included paralysis, stroke or death. If the cells escaped into the spinal fluid they could have been been lost; if they were injected too slowly they could have become stuck or they could have grown rapidly into a tumour.
The patient recovered quickly and was discharged within 72 hours of the operation last week. His identity remains private while he recuperates.
The researchers believe that the cells will boost the levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, a lack of which causes shaking, stiffness and slowness — the most obvious symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The usual surgical treatment for Parkinson’s, when it is attempted, is deep brain stimulation, with neurosurgeons drilling holes into a patient’s skull and putting wires into the brain.
Girish Nair, a neurosurgeon at the hospital, said: “Parkinson’s is a disease which comes because of a shortage of dopamine in the brain. The symptoms are a tremor, rigidity and being unable to express emotions. All of those functions are mediated by dopamine. We will monitor these patients to see if they are having any improvement in their Parkinson’s symptoms.”
Andrew Evans, a neurologist and the leader of the trial, said: “The idea with cellular replacement therapy is to be able to implant cells that will differentiate or change from stem cells into cells that either produce dopamine or provide other forms of support to the remaining neurons.”
The Melbourne trial used stem cells that were derived from unfertilised eggs manufactured in a laboratory by the International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCC) in California, which is sponsoring the trial.
Claire Bale, of the charity Parkinson’s UK, said that stem cells held “great promise” because they could in theory grow new, healthy nerve cells that might replace those that had died. However, it is not yet clear whether these stem cells turn into brain cells after being injected into humans.
Ms Bale said: “Question marks have been raised about the specific approach used in this trial but if it proves to be safe and successful it could be an important step towards a treatment.”
The operation required months of planning and experimentation on a three-dimensional model of a human brain to devise the best methods of injecting the cells. The doctors penetrated deep into the patient’s skull, making tiny tracks in the delicate tissue using cannulas to reach seven target sites on each side of the brain.
No drugs have succeeded in halting the progression of Parkinson’s, which affects ten million people worldwide.
It is not yet known if the trial has been successful, and Dr Evans said that first it had to be determined how safe the procedure was. Eleven more patients are due to have the surgery. The results will be known in two years’ time.
