Stem cells injection help stroke patients

BRITAIN: Three-quarters of a group of people disabled by stroke have recovered some use of their arms after receiving a pioneering therapy involving stem cells injected into the brain.

The results, from a clinical trial in Glasgow, are the strongest evidence that the jabs can regenerate damaged brain tissue and could become the first effective therapy for one of the most common and debilitating health problems.

At present there is often very little doctors can do to help recovery.

Since 2010, scientists at the University of Glasgow and Reneuron, a biotechnology company based in Guildford, have been testing whether a dose of 20 million ‘‘CTX’’ stem cells delivered directly to the affected part of the brain can rebuild the broken circuits.

These cells, which can be coaxed into becoming almost any kind of human tissue, are one of the most important components of the body’s natural repair kit.

Long used in bone marrow transplants for treating cancer, they have shown tantalising promise as therapies for a wide range of conditions, from burns to multiple sclerosis, but have also attracted a degree of hype and pseudoscientific claims.

After a solid showing in a pilot study of 11 stroke patients, Reneuron revealed yesterday it had tested the therapy on a further 21 people.

Seven had a significant improvement in their disability scores over at least three months and another eight had a similar boost to their ability to go about their daily lives.

Reneuron has now applied to subject the treatment to a larger, placebo-controlled trial that would determine whether it is good enough to be taken up by doctors.

- The Times