Stem Cell Study Enhances Recovery in Animal Models for Cerebral Palsy, Stroke

A small dose of adult donor stem cells administered to animals that have neurological damage similar to babies with cerebral palsy and adults with stroke may significantly improve recovery from these conditions, researchers say.

Researchers gave a single dose of 200,000-400,000 human stem cells into the damaged brain of animals that experienced significant mobility loss and other conditions related to stroke and cerebral palsy. The stem cells used in the study were multipotent adult progenitor cells, or MAPCs, which were recently discovered.

According to Dr. Cesario V. Borlongan, neuroscientist at the Medical College of Georgia and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta, animals in the model of cerebral palsy and stroke that were treated with the stem cells had at least a 25 percent improvement in motor and neurological skills than the control group.

“These are not going to be cures, but this level of recovery is significant,” said Dr. David Hess, adult stroke specialist and study co-author.

The improvements experienced in the stem cell treated animals included an improved performance within all tests, which evaluated strength, agility, balance, fine motor skills, and included increased recovery of damaged tissue.

“A single dose of cells produce robust behavioral recovery at an early period post-transplantation and the recovery was durable up to two months, which was the entire length of this study,” said Dr. Borlongan. “Furthermore, animals continued to show improvement over time.”

Extensive animal testing has found that mature stem cells used in the therapy are safe and don't produce tumors or other abnormal tissue, which is a possible complication seen with embryonic stem cells.

Even though researchers have not studied whether stem cell therapy might be beneficial several months after a brain injury occurs, they believe early treatment will prove the most successful.

Currently, scientists are working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in hopes of starting clinical trials in the next few years.

Contact us to learn about available traditional treatments and the latest therapy research for cerebral palsy, or consult a cerebral palsy lawyer to learn about the rights of cerebral palsy patients.