Stem Cells don't work in MS brains
Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 2:47 pm
This is some of the worst news I have seen.
gwa`
http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/con ... t/awl370v1
Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation fails to stop demyelination and neurodegeneration in
multiple sclerosis
Imke Metz1, Claudia F. Lucchinetti2, Harry Openshaw3, Antonio Garcia-Merino4, Hans Lassmann5, Marc S. Freedman6,
Harold L. Atkins6, Biagio Azzarelli7, Oldrich J. Kolar7 and Wolfgang Brück1,8
1Department of Neuropathology, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany, 2Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic,
College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, 3Department of Neurology, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA,
USA, 4Servicio de Neurologia, Clinica Puerta de Hierro, Universidad Autonoma, Madrid, Spain, 5Center for Brain
Research, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, 6Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, The Ottawa Hospital
Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, 7Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis,
IN, USA and 8Institut für Multiple-Sklerose-Forschung, Bereich Humanmedizin der Universität Göttingen und Gemeinnütz
ige Hertie-Stiftung, Göttingen, Germany
Correspondence to: Prof. Wolfgang Brück, MD, Institut für Neuropathologie, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075 Göttingen, Germany E-mail: wbrueck@med.uni-goettingen.de
The present study analyses autopsy material from five multiple sclerosis patients who received autologous stem cell
transplantation. A total of 53 white matter lesions were investigated using routine and immunohistochemical stainings
to characterize the demyelinating activity, inflammatory infiltrates, acutely damaged axons and macrophages/microgli
al cells. We found evidence for ongoing active demyelination in all of the five patients. The inflammatory
infiltrate within the lesions showed only very few T cells and CD8+ cytotoxic T cells dominated the T cell
population. B cells and plasma cells were completely absent from the lesions. High numbers of acutely damaged
axons were found in active lesion areas. Tissue injury was associated with activated macrophages/microglial cells.
The present results indicate that ongoing demyelination and axonal degeneration exist despite pronounced
immunosuppression. Our data parallel results from some of the clinical phase I/II studies showing continued clinical
disease progression in multiple sclerosis patients with high expanded disability system scores despite autologous
stem cell transplantation.
gwa`
http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/con ... t/awl370v1
Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation fails to stop demyelination and neurodegeneration in
multiple sclerosis
Imke Metz1, Claudia F. Lucchinetti2, Harry Openshaw3, Antonio Garcia-Merino4, Hans Lassmann5, Marc S. Freedman6,
Harold L. Atkins6, Biagio Azzarelli7, Oldrich J. Kolar7 and Wolfgang Brück1,8
1Department of Neuropathology, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany, 2Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic,
College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, 3Department of Neurology, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA,
USA, 4Servicio de Neurologia, Clinica Puerta de Hierro, Universidad Autonoma, Madrid, Spain, 5Center for Brain
Research, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, 6Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, The Ottawa Hospital
Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, 7Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis,
IN, USA and 8Institut für Multiple-Sklerose-Forschung, Bereich Humanmedizin der Universität Göttingen und Gemeinnütz
ige Hertie-Stiftung, Göttingen, Germany
Correspondence to: Prof. Wolfgang Brück, MD, Institut für Neuropathologie, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075 Göttingen, Germany E-mail: wbrueck@med.uni-goettingen.de
The present study analyses autopsy material from five multiple sclerosis patients who received autologous stem cell
transplantation. A total of 53 white matter lesions were investigated using routine and immunohistochemical stainings
to characterize the demyelinating activity, inflammatory infiltrates, acutely damaged axons and macrophages/microgli
al cells. We found evidence for ongoing active demyelination in all of the five patients. The inflammatory
infiltrate within the lesions showed only very few T cells and CD8+ cytotoxic T cells dominated the T cell
population. B cells and plasma cells were completely absent from the lesions. High numbers of acutely damaged
axons were found in active lesion areas. Tissue injury was associated with activated macrophages/microglial cells.
The present results indicate that ongoing demyelination and axonal degeneration exist despite pronounced
immunosuppression. Our data parallel results from some of the clinical phase I/II studies showing continued clinical
disease progression in multiple sclerosis patients with high expanded disability system scores despite autologous
stem cell transplantation.