A new clinical trial suggests that cord blood stem cells may help the sickest COVID-19 patients survive. Researchers have discovered that severely ill patients who received two intravenous doses of stem cells three days apart had a much greater chance of survival compared to other patients.
Senior researcher Dr. Camillo Ricordi, director of the Diabetes Research Institute and Cell Transplant Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, described the results as ‘spectacular’.
He explained: ”It’s probably the best trial ever done for a COVID cure, because we have 100% survival in subjects less than 85 years of age versus 42% survival in the control group.”
The trial involved 24 patients who were receiving treatment at one of two Miami-area hospitals for severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by COVID. ARDS occurs when the body’s immune system response to a serious infection causes fluid to build up in the lungs.
Half of the patients received a placebo and half received two IV infusions of 100 million stem cells. After one month, 91% of the patients who had received the stem cell treatment were still alive. Only 42% of the patients in the placebo group had survived.
In patients younger than 85 years of age, there was a 100% survival rate amongst those who received the stem cell transplant.
The researchers also discovered that patients who received stem cells recovered faster. They were able to leave hospital within two weeks and over 80% of the patients in that group were fully recovered after 30 days. This compares to 37% in the control group.
The treatment was also confirmed to be safe, with no patients experiencing any serious infusion related events.
The treatment works by blunting the response of the immune system. This reduces the amount of inflammation that occurs as a result of COVID and reduces the severity of ARDS.
As lead research Giacomo Lanzoni explained in a press releases: “Our results confirm the powerful anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory effect of umbilical stem cells. These cells have clearly inhibited the ‘cytokine storm,’ a hallmark of severe COVID-19. The results are critically important not only for COVID-19 but also for other diseases characterized by aberrant and hyperinflammatory immune responses, such as autoimmune Type 1 Diabetes.”
Source: Could Umbilical Cord Stem Cells Be a Lifesaver Against Severe COVID-19?
{{cta(‘a30cec0a-5bde-4167-9d35-9d42b560ca18’)}}