Nasally delivered stem cell treatment for Parkinson’s improves motor
control
21 Feb 2011
Stem cells, delivered intranasally, have been found to
substantially improve motor function in Parkinson’s disease in a study
conducted by the US Alzheimer’s Research Center and the University
Hospital of Tubingen in Germany.
The team had previously published a paper and filed for a patent on
this intranasal stem cell delivery method and went on to study the
therapeutic impact and long-term survival of the stem cells after
they reached the brain. Their new study was published in
Rejuvenation Research.
Using a rat model of Parkinson's disease, the research
demonstrated that many of the stem cells delivered intranasally
survived for at least six months in the brain; that the stem cells
rapidly migrated preferentially to the damaged areas of the brain;
and that motor control showed significant improvement.
This likely occurred because of the demonstrated
anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects of the intranasally
administered stem cells, which were derived from bone marrow.
Intranasal administration of stem cells to the brain is a
promising and noninvasive alternative to current surgical
procedures. It also opens up the possibility of chronic stem cell
treatment, which would increase the number of cells delivered to the
brain and likely enhance the therapeutic benefit.