Dual treatment with stem cells reduces symptoms of muscular dystrophy

Researchers at the Center for Human Genome Studies at USP are hoping to develop a treatment for Duchenne dystrophy. After employing periodic injections of stem cells, combined with daily doses of a growth factor, they were able to reduce symptoms of muscular dystrophy in cells from patients and rats with congenital disease.

A double dose therapy used mesenchymal stem cells (obtained from umbilical cords of newborns) with doses of growth factor insulin-like 1 (IGF-1). In human tissues, treatment increased a protein essential for maintaining the integrity of the muscle. In rodents decreased tested treatment of inflammation and fibrosis muscle, leading to an improvement in clinical condition of the animals. The results of this study were published in the online version of the journal Stem Cell Reviews and Reports.

The double did not generate new healthy muscles, as, in principle, expected. But it seems to have created more favorable conditions for the preservation of the existing functionality of the musculature. Thus, an alternative approach would be to prevent or reduce the degeneration caused by dystrophies.

The therapy also had another advantage. The mesenchymal stem cells have immunosuppressive properties, explains the coordinator of the study team and the center of the USP, Mayana Zatz. With them, we reduce the risk for rejection of the injected material added.

<i> with information from FAPESP Magazine </ i>

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