Endometrial cells restore brain dopamine levels - a possible cure for Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease results from a loss of brain cells that produce the chemical messenger dopamine, which aids the transmission of brain signals that coordinate movement. Implanting stem cells into the brain provides it with new cells that would produce dopamine, thus increasing the amount of this missing messenger. Throughout the years, the relevant and pressing issue has been that it is complicated and invasive to obtain stem cells to be implanted into the brain. However, recent studies on mice have shown that stem cells obtained from the endometrial can be implanted into the brain. These stem cells are shown to adapt to the brain environment and start producing dopamine. The advantage of obtaining these endometrial stem cells is that they are readily available, given that women generate new endometrial tissue every month with each menstrual cycle. In addition, it provides an increased number of donors since women can be their own donors and even males can receive these stem cells if the tissue types match.
Furthermore, according to researchers, stem cells derived from endometrial tissue appear to be less likely to be rejected than stem cells from different parts of the body. This reduces the chances of the immune system trying to fight the foreign cells that would be injected into the brain. When the study was conducted, it was expected to see that the endometrial stem cells generated dopamine producing cells when transplanted into the brains of the mice with compromised immune systems. However, when implanted into the brains of mice with normal immune systems, the stem cells also gave rise to dopamine producing cells. Plus, since women can be their own donors, the chances of the brain rejecting the implanted cells are slim to none, which represents a huge medical advance since immune system reactions are usually a big concern when implanting cells.
This makes endometrial tissue the most readily available, safest, and most easily attainable (with a simple office procedure) source of stem cells currently existing. This discovery provides a new approach to curing (reversing) Parkinson’s disease and probably some other types of diseases caused by the malfunctioning of brain cells.
The article can be found at
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100506141608.htm
Geraldine Pena-Galea
Furthermore, according to researchers, stem cells derived from endometrial tissue appear to be less likely to be rejected than stem cells from different parts of the body. This reduces the chances of the immune system trying to fight the foreign cells that would be injected into the brain. When the study was conducted, it was expected to see that the endometrial stem cells generated dopamine producing cells when transplanted into the brains of the mice with compromised immune systems. However, when implanted into the brains of mice with normal immune systems, the stem cells also gave rise to dopamine producing cells. Plus, since women can be their own donors, the chances of the brain rejecting the implanted cells are slim to none, which represents a huge medical advance since immune system reactions are usually a big concern when implanting cells.
This makes endometrial tissue the most readily available, safest, and most easily attainable (with a simple office procedure) source of stem cells currently existing. This discovery provides a new approach to curing (reversing) Parkinson’s disease and probably some other types of diseases caused by the malfunctioning of brain cells.
The article can be found at
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100506141608.htm
Geraldine Pena-Galea
posted by Geraldine at 10:56 PM
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