Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited eye disease that affects about 1 in 4,000 people. It causes the breakdown and loss of cells in the retina, eventually causing blindness. Symptoms of this condition usually begin in childhood, with most people going blind before they reach 40-years-of-age.
Scientists from UC Irvine Health in the United States have just developed a treatment using stem cells that may prevent this condition from causing vision loss. A new trial testing this treatment is being run by Dr. Henry Klassen, associate professor and director of the Stem Cell and Retinal Regeneration Program at UC Irvine School of Medicine.
It is a Phase 2B clinical trial that will test the safety and efficacy of the treatment. If the results of this trial are positive, researchers will move onto an FDA-approved stem cell clinical trial.
Dr. Klassen has been working towards a treatment for RP for more than 20-years. He has always suspected that the central nervous system could be coaxed into repairing damage to the eyes. He decided to focus on RP, which causes damage to the light-sensing cells in the retina.
Scientists around the world have been testing the ability of stem cells to regenerate tissue and replace cells. One recent project successfully implanted stem cells into the retina of a rat and improved its vision. Dr. Klassen read this paper and immediately realised it was the best way to treat RP.
The therapy developed by Dr. Klassen uses progenitor stem cells, which have just begun the progression from stem cell to retinal cell. The stem cells are injected into the vitreous of the eye, which is the gel-like substance that makes up the inner eye.
Dr. Klassen hoped that using stem cells, the progression of the disease may be able to stop by regenerating the cells of the retina. He was amazed to discover that some patients had their eye sight improve after receiving the treatment — it was reversing the damage that had been done. More trials are required before this treatment can be made available to the general public, but researchers are very excited.
Source: Stem cells may lead to treatment for form of blindness
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