There is no known cure and the causes of ALS are still not fully understood. Stem cells transplanted form a patient’s bone marrow could help treat ALS.ĪLS affects around 2 out of every 100,000 people in North America and Europe.
#Stem cell treatment als trial#
The Spanish researchers are now seeking funding to start running a clinical trial for their stem cell treatment. Once approval is obtained from the Spanish Medicine Agency (AEMPS), the treatment could be tested on other muscles commonly affected by ALS, such as the diaphragm. The researchers plan to transplant bone marrow cells into the tibialis anterior muscle, which is near the shin, as well as into the hand’s muscles - two areas that are particularly affected by ALS. Additionally, the treatment is non-invasive as it does not require surgery and can be administered with only a local anesthetic. Importantly, the treatment method allows for the amount of transplanted cells and number of transplants to be adjusted according to the size of the muscle receiving the stem cells. Adult stem cells from the bone marrow may then prevent the death of motor neurons, nerve cells involved in movement. Taking stem cells from a patient’s bone marrow has the advantage that there is less risk of an immune response against the patient’s own cells.
The treatment development follows the discovery that bone marrow cells transplanted to a mouse’s muscles can stop the deadly progressive muscular deterioration caused by ALS. Researchers from the Neuroscience Institute at the Universidad Miguel Hernández (UMH) in Elche, Alicante, and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) aim to test a stem cell treatment for ALS in a group of 100 patients after obtaining encouraging results in mice. Early stage research from Spain could lead to a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using adult stem cells from bone marrow to stop progressive muscle paralysis.
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