Bilateral Transplantation of Allogenic Adult Human Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells into the Subventricular Zone of Parkinson’s Disease: A Pilot Clinical Study

Abstract

The progress of PD and its related disorders cannot be prevented with the medications available. In this study, we recruited 8 PD and 4 PD plus patients between 5 to 15 years after diagnosis. All patients received BM-MSCs bilaterally into the SVZ and were followed up for 12 months. PD patients after therapy reported a mean improvement of 17.92% during “on” and 31.21% during “off” period on the UPDRS scoring system. None of the patients increased their medication during the follow-up period. Subjectively, the patients reported clarity in speech, reduction in tremors, rigidity, and freezing attacks. The results correlated with the duration of the disease. Those patients transplanted in the early stages of the disease (less than 5 years) showed more improvement and no further disease progression than the later stages (11–15 years). However, the PD plus patients did not show any change in their clinical status after stem cell transplantation. This study demonstrates the safety of adult allogenic human BM-MSCs transplanted into the SVZ of the brain and its efficacy in early-stage PD patients.

Adult Bone Marrow Neural Crest Stem Cells and Mesenchymal Stem Cells Are Not Able to Replace Lost Neurons in Acute MPTP-Lesioned Mice

“…Moreover, the presence of neural crest derived cells into the adult bone marrow stroma [21], [22] raised new hopes to obtain functional neurons from autologous adult stem cells [8]. Recently, a clinical trial described unilateral transplantation of autologous whole BMSC population into the subventricular zone (SVZ) of PD patients, and reported reserved clinical improvement with no adverse effects, such as tumor formation [29], [30]. Whereas those results were based on clinical observations and Unified Parkinson’s disease Rate Scale scores, the mechanisms underlying the reported improvements are completely unknown.…”

Bone-Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Organ Repair

“…Human BMMSCs transfected with the BDNF gene also showed improved functional recovery and reduced infarct size through a reduction in apoptosis [101]. Patients with Parkinson's disease transplanted with BMMSCs in the early stages of the disease (less than 5 years) showed greater improvement than in the later stages (11–15 years) [102]. …”

A Meta-Analysis of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Animal Models of Parkinson's Disease

“…Clinical trials have demonstrated that autologous MSC administration is safe using intravenous (IV) administration in ischemic stroke [28] and multiple sclerosis [29] as well as spinal cord transplantation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [30] and intracerebral [31,32] and intra-arterial [33] transplantation in PD.…”