US doctors have announced that a stem cell transplant has helped to significantly improve the condition of a man suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Doctors firstly isolated adult stem cells from the patient’s brain, they were then cultured in vitro and encouraged to turn into dopamine-producing neurons. As soon as tests showed that the cells were producing dopamine they were then re-injected into the man’s brain. After the transplant, the man’s condition was seen to improve and he experienced a reduction in the trembling and muscle rigidity associated with the disease. Brain scans taken 3-months after the transplant revealed that dopamine production had increased by 58%, however it later dropped but the Parkinson’s symptoms did not return. The study is the first human study to show that stem cell transplants can help to treat Parkinson’s.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.bbc.co.uk on the 9th April 2002
