2021-12-21 11:22:42
This week we are going to introduce ourselves to the topic of stem cells. About twenty years ago, when I first discussed this issue for publication, it was very topical and sparked heated scientific and ethical debates on the use of embryos and embryonic cells for research and their use in the treatment of diseases. These days, stem cells seem to have been somewhat forgotten, but, like twenty years ago, they continue to promise important advances for the treatment of still incurable diseases. Let’s see what he was explaining then and let’s see what situation stem cell-based therapies are in.
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As it may not come as a surprise to you, we can state that therapy based on the administration of stem cells has not brought the therapeutic benefits that it promised, although its promises still stand.
At the moment, there are only a few stem cell-based therapies. The most important and oldest of these is the transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells, that is, the stem cells that give rise to all blood cells in the process called hematopoiesis, which takes place in the bone marrow. This therapy is usually performed by bone marrow transplantation, which contains the stem cells, but stem cells extracted from umbilical cord blood can also be used.
The above therapy makes it possible to cure leukemias and lymphomas. To do this, first, it is treated with a cytotoxic agent that kills all cells in the blood, whether tumor or normal, and then the hematopoietic stem cells are reconstituted by transplantation.
The problem with this way of proceeding is the one that always occurs with a transplant: rejection. In this case, however, things are stranger than they seem, because it is not the receiving organism that rejects the transplant, as can happen with a liver or kidney transplant, for example, but rather the transplant itself. that rejects the receiving organism. This is so because the bone marrow contains cells of the donor’s immune system that, when found in an organism other than their own, identify all cells as foreign and attack them. The attack, however, does not occur equally in all organs and the most affected organs are usually the intestine, skin and liver. This situation of rejection of the transplant to the recipient is called graft-versus-host disease.
Interestingly, there is a therapy based on mesenchymal stem cells, another type of stem cells also extracted from the bone marrow, which allows the treatment of the disease. This treatment consists of infusing the blood with culture-expanded mesenchymal stem cells, in the laboratory, which makes it possible to generate numerous doses of cells from a single donor. Apparently, these cells generate and secrete proteins and factors that reduce inflammation associated with rejection and are capable of regenerating tissues damaged by rejection. There are other therapies based on umbilical cord stem cells that we do not have time to detail here, but, overall, this type of therapy is still far from fulfilling what it promised when stem cells were discovered and began to be manipulated. In particular, we are still far from curing degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s or diabetes.
There are several reasons that explain the slow progress of research for the use of stem cells in the clinic. One of them is the cost of clinical trials, but another is that the safety of these therapies, other than those already approved, is highly questionable. There are serious risks that must be controlled. One of them is the development of tumors derived from these cells in a proportion of the patients who receive them.
It will be necessary to continue researching and persevering to finally achieve therapies based on safe stem cells, which end degenerative diseases caused by cell death or senescence and allow everyone the dream retirement, in good physical and mental health, yes, beyond the 90.
(Jorge Laborda 12/13/2021)
Works by Jorge Laborda.
Your defenses against coronavirus
Your defenses against coronavirus
Deflamed immunology: An introduction to the immune system and its pathologies
Deflamed immunology: An introduction to the immune system and its pathologies
Deflamed immunology: An introduction to the immune system and its pathologies
Kilo of Science Volume XII eBook
Kilo of Science Volume XII Paper
Kilo of Science Volume I. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume II. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume III. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume IV. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume V. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume VI. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume VII. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume VIII. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume IX. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume X. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume XI. Jorge Laborda
Matrix of homeopathy
Chained circumstances. Ed.Lulu
Chained circumstances. Amazon
One moon, one civilization. Why the Moon tells us that we are alone in the Universe
One moon, one civilization. Why the Moon tells us that we are alone in the Universe
One Moon one civilization why the Moon tells us we are alone in the universe
The thousand and one bases of ADN and other science stories
Adenius Fidelius
The intelligence funnel and other essays
The gods have been cloned
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