Findings of the Duke University Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program and the Robertson Clinical and Translational Therapy research endeavor concluded that an infusion of cells from a child’s own umbilical cord blood appears to improve brain connectivity and motor function.

 

November 2, 2017

Clinical trial results have determined infusions of cord blood cells can help decrease symptoms in children with cerebral palsy.

 

 

 

 

Findings of the Duke University Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program and the Robertson Clinical and Translational Therapy research endeavor concluded that an infusion of cells from a child’s own umbilical cord blood appears to improve brain connectivity and motor function. The study was published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine.

 

Investigators said the placebo-controlled, phase two trial included 63 children with varied types and severities of spastic cerebral palsy, a condition usually caused by brain damage before or at birth. Officials said during the trial they tested doses from 10 million cells per kilogram of body weight up to 50 million cells per kilogram, based on the amount and quality of the cord blood each child had in storage.

 

Among the tools used to evaluate the children’s progress, authors said, was MRI to measure brain connectivity and the Gross Motor Function Measure, a standardized analysis of a child’s ability to crawl, roll, kneel and complete other movements based on age and development.

 

“We are encouraged by the results of this study, which shows that appropriately dosed infusions of cord blood cells can help lessen symptoms in children with cerebral palsy,” Joanne Kurtzberg, the trial’s senior author and director of the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank at Duke, said. “We still have a lot to learn about this therapy so that it can be optimized and accessible to more children with cerebral palsy.

 

Previous research has indicated it’s safe for children with cerebral palsy to receive an infusion of their own cord blood. Now that we have identified a dosing threshold, we are planning additional studies testing the benefits of multiple doses of cells, as well as the use of donor cells for patients whose own cord blood was not banked.”

 

 

Source: Original Article