The milestone transplant was performed at Skåne University Hospital in February. Credit: Lund University
Key points:
- In a first, a patient with Parkinson’s disease has received a stem cell-based transplant.
- The stem cells are expected to grow and replace the dopamine nerve cells that are lost during Parkinson’s.
- The clinical trial includes assessments over the coming years while the stem cells mature.
On February 13, a patient suffering from Parkinson’s disease received a transplant of stem cell-derived nerve cells—a first in potential treatments for Parkinson’s. The transplantation product is generated from embryonic stem cells and functions to replace the dopamine nerve cells that are lost in the parkinsonian brain.
The team says the transplantation was completed as planned, and the correct location of the cell implant was confirmed by MRI.
“This is an important milestone on the road toward a cell therapy that can be used to treat patients with Parkinson’s disease,” said Gesine Paul-Visse, consultant neurologist at Skåne University Hospital, adjunct professor at Lund University, where the product was developed, and principal investigator of the STEM-PD clinical trial.
The patient was the first of eight with Parkinson’s disease who will receive the transplant at Skåne University Hospital in Sweden as part of the STEM-PD trial. After being transplanted, the cells are expected to mature into new and healthy dopamine-producing nerve cells within the brain.
“The brain region that the cells are transplanted into in this trial can be as narrow as 4 millimeters. The surgical instrument [at Skåne University Hospital] has a very high level of precision, and we are greatly helped by modern imaging techniques,” said neurosurgeon Hjálmar Bjartmarz, who carried out the transplantation surgery.
The patients in the trial were diagnosed with Parkinson’s at least 10 years ago and are at a moderate stage of their disease. The researchers will follow these patients closely and assessments of cell survival and potential effects will be conducted over the coming years.
The standard treatment for Parkinson’s disease includes medications that replace the lost dopamine, but over time these medications often become less effective and cause side effects. As of today, there are no treatments that can repair the damaged structures within the brain or that can replace the nerve cells that are lost.