Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss in the developed world. The condition mostly affects people over the age of 60 and leads to a significant loss of central vision.
For the first time, researchers in Japan have been able to use a stem cell transplant to successfully treat this condition. In a procedure performed at the Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital in Japan, surgeons transplanted 250,000 retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) into the right eye of a man with AMD.
The stem cell transplant used retinal cells that were created from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). iPSCs are man-made stem cells that can be created from skin cells. It is the first time that a patient has received retinal stem cells created from a donor’s skin cells.
The treatment was a part of a study designed to test the efficacy and safety of the procedure. The study was authorised by Japan’s Ministry of Health and involves 5 patients.
The lead researcher of the project, Dr. Masayo Takahashi, says that the main challenge faced by scientists is cellular rejection. They will be carefully assessing if the patient’s bodies accept the stem cell transplant.
A similar study was completed in 2014, using retinal cells derived from a patient’s own skin cells. After a couple of years, the patient’s eyesight had improved. Unfortunately, the cost for the procedure was very expensive at that time. Since then, new technologies have made creating iPSCs and performing a stem cell transplant much cheaper.
Finding a cure for age-related macular degeneration is a high priority for scientists because it affects so many people. More than 600,000 people in the UK have the condition and that figure is expected to increase dramatically due to the ageing population. If this research project is successful it could lead to a treatment that helps millions of people around the world.
Source: World’s 1st Stem Cell Transplant from Donor to Man’s Eye Shows Promise of Restoring Sight
{{cta(‘010124f3-c9bc-4a23-b9fc-74953e6288c9’)}}