Stem cell therapy is dangerous
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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In the United States, a team of scientists found that treatment with stem cells can be dangerous. Studies have shown that over time, induced pluripotent stem cells begin to mutate in the patient's body, which negatively affects the health status.
Induced pluripotent stem cells are reprogrammed cells in the body that can grow into virtually any tissue or organ. This feature of stem cells allows using them in transplantation.
But American experts have established that with age in the body the number of mutations in the cells increases, so in the body of 80-year-old patients, twice as many mutations were found among protein genes, in comparison with young people.
According to Professor Ali Tokamani, who is the author of the scientific work, cell division causes the risk of mutation and with age the probability that the cell mutates only increases. Such cells can disrupt the work of other cells or provoke the development of a malignant tumor.
At the same time, scientists have detected in the blood and bone marrow of patients older than 90 years, much fewer mutations than expected. Scientists noted that the results of 90-year-old patients can be compared with the results of 45-year-olds. Presumably, this is due to the fact that in older people, the available stem cells were less often divided, so they were more protected from mutations.
Scientists have high hopes for stem cells, especially in the field of transplantation. Recently, a patient with multiple sclerosis again could walk thanks to experimental therapy with stem cells. Eric Thompson, because of the rapidly progressing disease, stopped moving his legs and his right hand and was confined to a wheelchair. In the UK, doctors could not help Mr. Thompson, so his relatives decided to "try their luck" in one of the Mexican clinics, where doctors suggested using stem cells to treat multiple sclerosis. According to Eric himself, he assumed that injections would only slow the progression of the disease, but only a few days after the start of treatment, he was able to get up from his wheelchair and go a few steps. This result was a surprise for the Englishman, since if he expected positive dynamics in treatment, then not earlier than in 2-3 years.
Eric Thompson in his interview noted that he hopes that his story can help the same patients as she was, people need to learn more about the new method of treatment. Certainly, treatment is not free, but what can be more expensive than one's own full life.
In the Mexican clinic, Thompson was transplanted with hematopoietic stem cells. The procedure consists in taking the patient's blood and destroying the harmful cells of the immune system with chemical preparations, which makes it possible to do something like "reset". The scientists noted that this type of therapy allows to slow down the development of the disease, to replace defective areas in the nervous and immune systems, however, there is no scientifically confirmed data on the effectiveness of treatment.
Experimental therapy with stem cells shows good results, but all these are isolated cases, and now it is not known exactly what this treatment will lead to in a few years. Experts are sure that before the official use of stem cells in medicine, it is necessary to carefully study their effect on the body.
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