For those who have lost their eyesight due to Type 2 Diabetes, stem cell therapy has brought forth some facade of hope. A new research reported that injecting stem cells into the eye might reverse or at least slow the early-stage sight-loss disorder.Shaomei Wang, Lead author of the study and Research scientist at the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute, US, said, "This is the first study to show preservation of vision after a single injection of adult-derived human cells into a rat model with age-related macular degeneration."
In an experiment on mice, stem cells were injected that resulted in 130 days of preserved vision in lab conditions, which means in humans, it would be at least 16 years.
The researchers converted adult human skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and made into any cell of the human body. These stem cells were then directed toward a neural progenitor cell fate, known as iNPCs or induced neural progenitor stem cells.
"These induced neural progenitor stem cells are a novel source of adult-derived cells which should have powerful effects on slowing down vision loss associated with macular degeneration," said another contributor to the study, Clive Svendsen. The institute is confident that it is close to offering adult stem cells as a promising source for personalised therapies for this and other human diseases, added Svendsen.
Source:Source:Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute
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