Stem cell therapy

The Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology is advancing the use of stem cells in neurological conditions. In stem cell therapy, young cells derived from bone marrow are used to treat disease.

In neurological conditions, several types of stem cell therapy intersect with different medical disciplines:

Regenerative medicine

Physician-scientists are working to regenerate the nervous system using stem cells to repair injury. Mesenchymal stem cells are injected via a lumbar puncture with the hope that they will mature into nerve cells.

Safety studies are underway in people with certain untreatable neurological diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple system atrophy. It's not known yet if these treatments will provide benefit or if they can be used in a wide range of neurological conditions.

Multiple sclerosis

Investigators are exploring ways to stop aggressive multiple sclerosis (MS) when standard treatments aren't effective.

In this approach, part of the immune system in the bone marrow is eliminated using the medicine cyclophosphamide in a process called conditioning. The person's own bone marrow stem cells are then given back to them to replenish the bone marrow through an autologous stem cell transplant. It's hoped that rebooting the immune system will stop the inflammation of multiple sclerosis.