Stem cell trial for MS 'encouraging'

A ground-breaking trial in which multiple sclerosis patients were treated with bone marrow stem cells has produced "encouraging" results, say scientists.

The research team from the University of Bristol gave the volunteers a general anaesthetic during which bone marrow was harvested. The marrow cells were filtered and prepared for injection into the patient's vein later the same day.

The procedure was "well tolerated" and the six participants, aged between 30 and 60, were followed up for a year. The results of the test scores were suggestive of "stable disease", the team found.

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The possibilities raised by the trial, one of the first to treat MS with a patients' own bone marrow stem cells, are "tantalising", according to Professor Neil Scolding, who led the study.

Prof Scolding, Burden Professor of Clinical Neurosciences, said: "We are encouraged by the results of this early study. The safety data are reassuring and the suggestion of benefit tantalising. A larger study is required to assess the effectiveness of bone marrow cellular therapy in treating MS.

"Research into the underlying mechanisms is ongoing and vital in order to build on these results. We believe that stem cells mobilised from the marrow to the blood are responsible, and that they help improve disease in several ways, including neuroprotection and immune modulation."

Bone marrow is known to contain stem cells capable of replacing cells in many types of tissues and organs – and so is of great interest to those working to develop new treatments for many diseases, including those affecting the nervous system.

A full report on the trial is published online in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.