Researchers develop method to treat strokes with white blood cell injections

Mainichi.jp:  June 12, 2012.

Researchers at a hospital in Kobe have found a way to treat stroke victims using white blood cells from their bone-marrow fluid, in what could emerge as a new treatment method lessening the burden on patients.

In clinical tests at the Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation Hospital in Kobe, researchers extracted bone-marrow fluid from stroke patients, then returned mononuclear white blood cells in this fluid to the patients’ bodies through intravenous injections. They concluded there was a possibility that the symptoms of many stroke victims could be alleviated as a result.

The amount of bone marrow fluid collected in the new treatment is about one-tenth of that taken during bone marrow transplants. It is therefore hoped that the process could be established as a treatment that does not excessively burden patients.

In 2005, the clot-busting drug t-PA, which can greatly lessen the effects of strokes if applied within three hours, received approval, and its use is spreading. However, there are many stroke victims who cannot be reached in time, or whose symptoms do not improve when they take the drug. The new treatment is believed to be effective for such people until about the 10th day after a stroke.

Akihiko Taguchi, head of the hospital’s regenerative medicine research department, and other researchers confirmed through experiments on simians and other tests that it was possible intravenous injections of mononuclear cells could alleviate the symptoms of strokes. It is thought that when mononuclear cells pass through the blood, it helps regenerate blood vessels in the part of the brain where the stroke has occurred and the blood supply has been cut off. This, in turn, is thought to revitalize the cells that form nerves in the surrounding region of the brain. read more