Stroke patient first to have stem cells injected into brain

Researchers from Glasgow have injected stem cells into the brain of a British stroke patient. The unnamed elderly man is the first person in the world to receive this procedure.
Stem cells injected into the brain of a stroke patient
The research was led by Keith Muir, a professor of neuroscience at Glasgow University and the clinical team at Southern General Hospital.

The procedure is the first part of a new study – the Pilot Investigation of Stem Cells in Stroke – or PISCES. The team attempt the procedure on an additional 12 male patients, all over 60, being given progressively higher doses of stem cells over the next year. As a closely-defined control group, doctors will be able to assess quickly any improvement or, alternatively, any worsening of their disabilities.

The process involves the highly controversial use of neural stem cells grown in the lab from those taken from the nascent brain of a discarded 12-week-old human foetus.

“We hope that in the future it will lead to larger studies to determine the effectiveness of stem cells on the disabilities that result from strokes”, said Professor Keith Muir, a neuroscientist at Glasgow University.

Currently, researchers grow human embryonic stem cells on surfaces of mouse cells or mouse proteins. However, this process runs the danger that the human cells will be tainted by animal pathogens or viruses.

The researchers will be looking closely to see if the stem cells have begun to repair their brains and if their condition has improved.