Autologous Mesenchymal Stem Cells Transplantation for Spinal Cord Injury- A Phase I Clinical Study

Summary

The conventional treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI) includes physical therapy and rehabilitation and in some cases may require surgical intervention. Although improved emergency care and aggressive treatment can help in preventing further damage and even restore minimal sensory functions, still a large proportion of patients suffer with prolonged disabilities. It led neurologists to search out for new treatment options for this otherwise debilitating disorder. Recent advances in research have developed a better understanding of stem cell biology especially their role in tissue repair and regeneration. Encouraging results in pre-clinical phase and limited human trials have proved that stem cells can be safely and effectively delivered to the injured site for regeneration of damaged tissue. Although a variety of cell types have been tried for their role in repair of spinal cord injury, majority of clinical trials employed stem cells taken from bone marrow especially mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC). Bone marrow MSCs are a good choice for regenerative therapies owing to advantages like ease of collection and ex-vivo culturing, immune tolerance and their ability to differentiate into a variety of cell types including neuronal lineage cells. Intravenous application or direct injection of MSCs into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) via lumber puncture in animal models of SCI and brain trauma had shown that MSCs can migrate towards and integrate into injured spinal tissue and reduce cyst size and increase functional recovery. The literature indicates that acute, sub-acute and chronic injury can be a therapeutic target for MSC grafting. The mechanism of action may however vary among these conditions. In acute phase, MSC administration play anti-inflammatory role, while in sub-acute/chronic setting it may be used as neurostimulator and for cell bridging effect and possibly glial or neuronal cell replacement. The investigators propose a non-randomized, single group, open label, phase-I, interventional study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intrathecal delivery of patient's own (autologous) bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells for treatment of spinal cord injury. This will include determination of functional recovery (neuro-muscular control and sensation) in the affected area and overall improvement in quality of life of the patients and also take into account any side effects, if observed.

Timeline

Start

2013-06

Primary completion

2016-01

Completion

2016-03

Publications

• Background Legos JJ, Gopez JJ, Young WF. Non-surgical management of spinal cord injury. Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2002 Apr;11(4):469-82. doi: 10.1517/13543784.11.4.469.
• Background Zhang HT, Cheng HY, Cai YQ, Ma X, Liu WP, Yan ZJ, Jiang XD, Xu RX. Comparison of adult neurospheres derived from different origins for treatment of rat spinal cord injury. Neurosci Lett. 2009 Jul 24;458(3):116-21. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2009.04.045. Epub 2009 Apr 24.
• Background Mackay-Sim A, St John JA. Olfactory ensheathing cells from the nose: clinical application in human spinal cord injuries. Exp Neurol. 2011 May;229(1):174-80. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2010.08.025. Epub 2010 Sep 9.
• Background Hernandez J, Torres-Espin A, Navarro X. Adult stem cell transplants for spinal cord injury repair: current state in preclinical research. Curr Stem Cell Res Ther. 2011 Sep;6(3):273-87. doi: 10.2174/157488811796575323.
• Background Tetzlaff W, Okon EB, Karimi-Abdolrezaee S, Hill CE, Sparling JS, Plemel JR, Plunet WT, Tsai EC, Baptiste D, Smithson LJ, Kawaja MD, Fehlings MG, Kwon BK. A systematic review of cellular transplantation therapies for spinal cord injury. J Neurotrauma. 2011 Aug;28(8):1611-82. doi: 10.1089/neu.2009.1177. Epub 2010 Apr 20.
• Background Karamouzian S, Nematollahi-Mahani SN, Nakhaee N, Eskandary H. Clinical safety and primary efficacy of bone marrow mesenchymal cell transplantation in subacute spinal cord injured patients. Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2012 Sep;114(7):935-9. doi: 10.1016/j.clineuro.2012.02.003. Epub 2012 Mar 30.
• Background Dasari VR, Veeravalli KK, Dinh DH. Mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of spinal cord injuries: A review. World J Stem Cells. 2014 Apr 26;6(2):120-33. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v6.i2.120.
• Background All AH, Gharibani P, Gupta S, Bazley FA, Pashai N, Chou BK, Shah S, Resar LM, Cheng L, Gearhart JD, Kerr CL. Early intervention for spinal cord injury with human induced pluripotent stem cells oligodendrocyte progenitors. PLoS One. 2015 Jan 30;10(1):e0116933. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116933. eCollection 2015.
• Satti HS, Waheed A, Ahmed P, Ahmed K, Akram Z, Aziz T, Satti TM, Shahbaz N, Khan MA, Malik SA. Autologous mesenchymal stromal cell transplantation for spinal cord injury: A Phase I pilot study. Cytotherapy. 2016 Apr;18(4):518-22. doi: 10.1016/j.jcyt.2016.01.004.

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