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Umbilical cord blood saves girl with severe pulmonary hypertension
07 August 2019
Stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood are used as standard treatment for 80 diseases. In recent years, there have been new reports about the use of these cells for additional diseases. Doctors in Germany successfully used them to treat pulmonary hypertension in a 3-year-old girl.
Pulmonary hypertension - what is it?
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is currently an incurable disease. It leads to death within about five to seven years after diagnosis. The disease is named for the increased pressure in the pulmonary vessels and can lead to overload and failure of the right side of the heart. The causes of pulmonary hypertension can vary, but all patients struggle with shortness of breath or severely limited mobility, among other symptoms. For this reason, researchers are constantly looking for new ways and therapies to extend the lives of people with pulmonary hypertension and improve their comfort.
Stem cells and pulmonary hypertension
Doctors in Germany have announced the first success in treating pulmonary hypertension with cells from umbilical cord blood (HUCMSC - human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell). The patient was a three-year-old girl suffering from PAH and Rendu-Osler-Weber disease who was intravenously injected with allogeneic stem cells from her baby brother's umbilical cord blood. The injections were performed five times over a six-month period. The girl's clinical condition was assessed after two and six months. Not only were there no side effects, but there was also an increase in exercise tolerance and an improvement in cardiovascular parameters. Before the stem cell infusion, the girl suffered from growth disorders and weight gain. After the first infusion she started to grow - in three months she grew 10 cm. Moreover, the girl is now six years old and feels well.
According to the researchers, the regeneration of the vascular system damaged by the disease, as well as the significant alleviation of cellular damage, are responsible for the improvement due to cord blood stem cell therapy. The study reports, among other things, the role of the prostaglandin PGE2, which may play a key role in the regenerative and immunomodulatory abilities of cord blood stem cells.
The researchers unanimously emphasize that further research should be conducted and that additional opportunities and uses for cord blood-derived stem cells should be actively sought.
Bibliography:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1053249822018472
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