You are here

Home » News

Press Releases from AlphaMed Press

March 28, 2017
Stem Cell Treatment Has Potential to Help Parkinson’s Disease Unexpected Brain Area

DURHAM, NC - Currently symptomatic therapies for Parkinson’s Disease (PD) produce unwanted side effects and diminished effectiveness over time. A recent study published in STEM CELLS suggests that human neural stem cell (hNSC) transplantation could help to treat PD by stimulating subventricular zone (SVZ) stem cells to produce more neural cells.

Strategies involving transplantation of these cells into the affected brain regions hold great promise; however, the exact mechanisms behind hNSCs’ success are not fully understood.

Neural stem cells are self-renewing and can differentiate into any type of neural cell, such as neurons and glial cells. With their ability to rescue dysfunctional neural pathways, NSCs are an ideal source for grafting and the development of novel therapies.  

March 2, 2017
Early Results Show Irregular Heartbeat Improves After Mesenchymal Stem Cells Treatment

DURHAM, NC – A new study published this month in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine indicates that treating heart patients with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) does not increase their risk of irregular heart beat (arrhythmia). In fact, the MSCs had the opposite effect and showed promise of improving the condition.

“This could be an important breakthrough for many heart patients, as proarrhythmia – which is a new or more frequent occurrence of pre-existing arrhythmia – unfortunately can be a side effect of some of the drugs we’re using to treat these patients,” said the study’s lead author, Raul Mitrani, M.D., of the University of Miami School of Medicine’s Division of Cardiology (Miami, Florida).

August 18, 2016
Study Shows Unmodified Stem Cells Might Stop Osteoporosis Caused by Autoimmune Drugs

DURHAM, NC - An infusion of a healthy donor’s unmodified stem cells might one day be used to prevent a type of osteoporosis caused by glucocorticoid therapy, according to a study published this month in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine. Osteoporosis is among the most significant side effects of glucocorticoid therapy, which is used for the management of inflammatory and auto-immune diseases.

August 15, 2016
Study Shows Stem Cells are Effective Weapon to Combat Biological Warfare

DURHAM, NC - Researchers for the first time have shown how engineered stem cells can be used to deliver antibodies superior to those currently available for protecting against infectious diseases and biological warfare. The study appears in the August issue of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine.

August 5, 2016
Hepatitis C Virus Might be on the Horizon, According to New Stem Cell Study

DURHAM, NC - The medical world may be one step closer to an affordable, effective therapeutic vaccine for hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to a new study appearing in the latest issue of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine. The study, by scientists at Second Military Medical University in Shanghai, showed how exosomes secreted from umbilical mesenchymal stem cells (uMSC) efficiently suppressed HCV infection.

Chronic hepatitis C is a serious disease that can result in long-term health problems. Worldwide, 700,000 people die each year from HCV-related liver diseases, according to the World Health Organization. While newly developed antiviral medicines could cure approximately 90 percent of those with HCV infection, access to diagnosis and treatment is limited and there is currently no vaccine to prevent it.

July 19, 2016
Stem Cells Improve Blood Vessel Function Following Spinal Cord Injury

DURHAM, NC - A new study published in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine (SCTM) by Badner et al shows how a minimally invasive stem cell treatment in rats can reduce secondary damage in traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). While similar studies have also demonstrated the promise of stem cells as a therapy for SCI, what makes this one different is the type of stem cell used. For the first time, researchers evaluated whether a brain-derived stromal cell would be better suited to target the acute phase of SCI than cells derived from other tissue sources. The answer was yes.

June 23, 2016
Stem Cell Injections Help Woman with Lymphedema Caused by Cancer Treatment

DURHAM, NC - In a new case report published today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, doctors at Odense University Hospital in Denmark detail how a patient who developed lymphedema after being treated for breast cancer benefitted from an injection of stem cells derived from adipose (fat) tissue. The results could change the paradigm for dealing with this debilitating, frequent side effect of cancer treatment.

Lymphedema refers to the swelling that generally occurs in an arm or leg – or both – after lymph nodes have either been surgically removed (lymphadenectomy) or damaged by radiation during cancer treatment, particularly for breast cancer. Some patients’ bodies are able to accommodate for the missing or damaged nodes, but in others this causes a blockage in the lymphatic system, which in turn leads to a buildup of waste and fluid.

June 13, 2016
Low Dose of Stem Cells Might Provide Relief to Those Suffering from Arthritis of the Knee

DURHAM, NC - A new study appearing in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine (SCTM) indicates that a single low dose of a patient’s own stem cells might offer relief from osteoarthritis of the knee.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common chronic condition of the joints, resulting from the cartilage or cushion between the joints breaking down. This leads to pain, stiffness and swelling. OA is on the rise in the western world, in part because of the aging population and also because of obesity, which strains the joints by increasing the load they carry. Any joint in the body may be affected by OA, but it is particularly common in the knee.

May 9, 2016
New Method of Treating Oxygen-Deprived Babies that Might Repair Brain Injury

DURHAM, NC - Treatment for full-term babies born with hypoxic-ischemic– brain damage due to blood and oxygen deprivation injuries is currently limited to therapeutic cooling to improve outcomes. There is no treatment for pre-term babies; however, a new study appearing in the latest issue of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine may lead to therapies that repair damage from hypoxia-ischemia.

March 31, 2016
Stem Cell Discovery Might Lead to Fix for Gene Mutation Behind Hereditary Hearing Loss

Durham, NC –  A new study in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine offers people with genetic hearing loss the promise of a new therapy that just might outperform artificial cochlear implants.

Implants currently are the most effective way to treat sensorineural hearing loss, a type of hereditary hearing loss caused by genetic mutations in the hair cells — the sensory receptors of the auditory system, found in the inner ear (the cochlea). A cochlear implant helps transfer sound to the patient’s hearing nerves and enables them to hear. But many researchers believe that stem cells could offer a more comprehensive and better fix for this problem.

Pages