Stem cells will help in the treatment of lower limb ischemia
As reported by STRF.ru Researchers from the biotech company TransTechnology, which is part of the Alkor Bio group, have published positive results of long-term clinical trials of the effectiveness of using stem cells for the treatment of chronic lower limb ischemia.
According to the company, the research has been conducted since 2006 at the Department of 2nd Surgery of St. Petersburg State Medical University named after I. P. Pavlov in two groups. The study included 20 patients aged 50 to 75 years with diagnoses: obliterating atherosclerosis of the vessels of the lower extremities and obliterating thrombangiitis (endarteritis). The duration of the disease in the patients included in the study was from one and a half to three years at the beginning of experimental treatment. The follow-up period for patients after stem cell transplantation ranged from one to three years.
At the heart of the diseases is the insufficiency of blood supply to the muscles of the extremities through narrowed blood vessels. Obliterating atherosclerosis of the vessels of the lower extremities is rather age-related and affects men over 40 years of age, the main risk factors: smoking, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. Obliterating thrombangiitis (endarteritis) "younger" – as a rule, men under 40 suffer from them. The incidence is higher in Asia and in people from Eastern Europe. The etiology of the disease is unknown, risk factors are smoking and the presence of certain antigens. Such diseases lead to amputation of limbs in tens of thousands of Russians.
At first, the disease manifests itself only with physical exertion. There is weakness and increased fatigue of the muscles, a feeling of chilliness in the extremities. Then there are pains, they are of varying intensity, observed even at rest, sometimes they are extremely painful and deprive the patient of sleep, the ability to move.
Often the pain in the muscles during a stop when walking stops after a while, as the blood supply is restored, when walking it resumes again. This clinical symptom is called intermittent lameness. At the beginning of the disease, it manifests itself relatively rarely and after a long walk. With the progression of the disease more and more often, sometimes every 100-150 meters of the path traveled, which causes the patient to stop periodically. In conditions of cold, dampness and other factors contributing to spastic reactions of the arteries, pain in the calf muscles occurs more often and is more pronounced.
During clinical trials in St. Petersburg State Medical University, patients underwent transplantation of their own stem cells in the form of a suspension of 20-30 points into the muscles of the thigh and lower leg, additionally the cells were injected intravenously.
At the same time, the following were controlled: the distance of pain-free walking, trophic disorders, characteristics of pain at rest. During cell therapy, no complications or reactions that could be associated with cell transplantation were noted.
55 percent of patients showed an improvement in the course of the disease, the healing of trophic ulcers and the disappearance of pain at rest. At the same time, in the control group, 92 percent of patients had a worsening of the course of the disease (23 out of 25 patients had amputations).
Scientists have concluded that the use of stem cells in the treatment of chronic lower limb ischemia is safe, in a significant part of patients it allows to save the limb from amputation and improves the clinical symptoms of the disease, promotes the healing of ulcers.
In the near future, St. Petersburg surgeons will begin using the new treatment method in clinical practice.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru20.01.2010