"Dr. Studer is the director of the Center for Stem Cell Biology at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He is a developmental biologist and neuroscientist pioneering the generation of midbrain dopamine neurons for transplantation and clinical applications."
I had not realized they don't seem to think stem cells will address non-motor symptoms. Part of the trial is to see if they do affect non-motor symptoms, but from the presentation it seems they don't expect them to.
But on the other hand, this article seems to believe stem cells CAN treat non-motor symptoms: Treating non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease with transplantation of stem cells 2015 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
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Well article states - MSCs can replace and rescue degenerated dopaminergic, and non-dopaminergic cells suggest their potential for the treatment of motor, as well as non-motor symptoms of PD. Sounds like they feel they can but just need more study.
I'm slightly puzzled by your surprise that replacing dopamine cells won't treat symptoms not due to loss of dopamine.
I thought it was fairly well understood that there is something going on in PD which causes non-motor symptoms, AND damages dopamine neurons - which in turn lead to loss of dopamine - which in turn causes the symptoms most commonly identified with Parkinsons.
Replacing missing original dopamine neurons with new , stem cell derived dopamine neurons, is going to benefit all of the symptoms which initially respond to dopamine replacement drug therapies like sinemet. It is not going to have any impact on any of the symptoms which are not related to the loss of dopamine, and do not respond to dopamine replacement medication.
If you use stem cells to make, say - the neurons in the olfactory bulb - then you might restore the sense of smell. If you use them to make enteric neurons in the gut, then you might fix constipation. But even if you used them to fix all 3 types of neuron, you will not end the "stuff" which is causing the death of all those neurons in the first place, and causing some other symptoms.
At which point, a warning, given by Dr Studer early in the presentation, regarding "quack clinics" offering stem cell treatments today. They are bullshit. The therapies talked about by Jeanne Loring, Dr Studer, Roger Barker, and others involved in mainstream research DO NOT TRANSPLANT OR ADMINISTER STEM CELLS. They use stem cells to make dopamine neuron cells, and transplant those dopamine neuron cells.
Having repeated Dr Studer's warning, and without changing my view on quack private clinics currently operating, I confess I am a bit confused about mesenchymal stem cells (like NCT04506073 ) - which do appear to inject stem cells, on the basis they can figure out for themselves what to develop into - and they do appear to produce results which have therapeutic benefit. If I could have participated in the recent webinars by Dr Studer, Jeanne Loring, or Roger Barker, that's what I would have wanted to ask them about
Thanks for posting this very interesting presentation from Lorenz Studer. Sounds like another 10 years before a therapy is available to the public, but they have solved the replication/manufacturing/freezing of the engineered cells part.
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