Anyone tried stem cell therapy?

[Maria3667]

So, has anyone tried this yet?

This bit in the study in particular caught my eye:
"MSC treatment directed T cells toward Treg and Th2, while suppressing Th17 and Tfh responses, and alleviated disease symptoms. "

MSC = Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3471521/

[markt]

I believe this trial is registered, and to some degree being overseen by the US FDA... albeit carried out at Nanjing University Medical School in China.

That is great, because their upfront and early involvement ensures their confidence in how the cells are cultured, productionized, and that they will have a consistent predictable effect when differentiating into different tissues or in mediating and restoring self tolerance to immune cells.

https://blogs.fda.gov/fdavoice/index.php/2018/03/predicting-stem-cell-activity-to-ensure-safe-and-effective-therapies/

https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm393030.htm

https://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvaccines/scienceresearch/biologicsresearchareas/ucm127182.htm

[Deseree]

I would love to know how far along this trial is or what happened to it since 2011. It looks like phases 1 and 2 were completed by 2011 but all info after that seems to have disappeared. I read the paper and it sounded so promising! I know the likelihood of reaching phase 3 is only ever like 8%, but in my opinion, stem cells are what is going to "fix" Sjogren's and I hope they progress with this research quickly! If anyone has any info on this or similar stem cell therapies, I would be excited to hear about it as well.

[Maria3667]

I'd love to know too!

But I wonder if stem cell therapy will actually 'cure' us, or only 'alleviate the symptoms' as described in the trial above. Mind you any improvement is better than none, IMHO...

[Sharon]

Thanks for the ray of hope...

[Deseree]

I'm certainly no stem cell expert, but I am a chemist (finishing up my PhD) and frequently encounter medically relevant research. I have extremely high hopes for cures to many diseases and conditions in the coming 20 years or so. While I don't know if the underlying cause of Sjogrens will be cured in that time, I am optimistic that stem cell therapies and other forms of regenerative medicine will provide an "effective cure", meaning that treatment is likely to be successful and effects could last many years before needing to be repeated. Again, I'm not involved in stem cell research myself, but the scientific community is out there working day and night on these problems. The answers will be found, it's just a matter of time. I can only hope the breakthroughs come sooner rather than later.