Stem Cell Ophthalmology Treatment Study (SCOTS) for retinal and optic nerve diseases: a preliminary report
Jeffrey N Weiss, Steven Levy, Alexis Malkin, Jeffrey N Weiss, Steven Levy, Alexis Malkin
Abstract
In this report, we present the results of a single patient with optic neuropathy treated within the Stem Cell Ophthalmology Treatment Study (SCOTS). SCOTS is an Institutional Review Board approved clinical trial and is the largest ophthalmology stem cell study registered at the National Institutes of Health to date- www.clinicaltrials.gov Identifier NCT 01920867. SCOTS utilizes autologous bone marrow-derived stem cells in the treatment of optic nerve and retinal diseases. Pre- and post-treatment comprehensive eye exams were independently performed at the Wilmer Eye Institute at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, USA. A 27 year old female patient had lost vision approximately 5 years prior to enrollment in SCOTS. Pre-treatment best-corrected visual acuity at the Wilmer Eye Institute was 20/800 Right Eye (OD) and 20/4,000 Left Eye (OS). Four months following treatment in SCOTS, the central visual acuity had improved to 20/100 OD and 20/40 OS.
Keywords: blindness; bone marrow-derived stem cells; ophthalmology; optic nerve; optic neuropathy; stem cells; visual loss.
Conflict of interest statement
Conflicts of Interest: None declared.
Figures
References
- Bunnell BA, Betancourt AM, Sullivan DE. New concepts on the immune modulation mediated by mesenchymal stem cells. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2010;1:34.
- Chen Q, Long Y, Yuan X, Zou L, Sun J, Chen S, Perez-Polo JR, Yang K. Protective effects of bone marrow stromal cell transplantation in injured rodent brain: synthesis of neurotrophic factors. J Neurosci Res. 2005;80:611–619.
- Islam MN, Das SR, Emin MT, Wei M, Sun L, Westphalen K, Rowlands DJ, Quadri SK, Bhattacharya S, Bhattacharya J. Mitochondrial transfer from bone-marrow-derived stromal cells to pulmonary alveoli protects against acute lung injury. Nat Med. 2012;18:759–765.
- Johnson TV, Bull ND, Hunt DP, Marina N, Tomarev SI, Martin KR. Neuroprotective effects of intravitreal mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in experimental glaucoma. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2010;51:2051–2059.
- Li N, Li XR, Yuan JQ. Effects of bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells transplanted into vitreous cavity of rat injured by ischemia/reperfusion. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2009;247:503–514.
- Nadri S, Yazdani S, Arefian E, Gohari Z, Eslaminejad MB, Kazemi B, Soleimani M. Mesenchymal stem cells from trabecular meshwork become photoreceptor-like cells on amniotic membrane. Neurosci Lett. 2013;541:43–48.
- Ng TK, Fortino VR, Pelaez D, Cheung HS. Progress of mesenchymal stem cell therapy for neural and retinal diseases. World J Stem Cells. 2014;6:111–119.
- Schwartz SD, Regillo CD, Lam BL, Eliott D, Rosenfeld PJ, Gregori NZ, Hubschman JP, Davis JL, Heilwell G, Spirn M, Maguire J, Gay R, Bateman J, Ostrick RM, Morris D, Vincent M, Anglade E, Del Priore LV, Lanza R. Human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium in patients with age-related macular degeneration and Stargardt's macular dystrophy: follow-up of two open-label phase 1/2 studies. Lancet. 2015;385:509–516.
- Wilkins A, Kemp K, Ginty M, Hares K, Mallam E, Scolding N. Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells secrete brain-derived neurotrophic factor which promotes neuronal survival in vitro. Stem Cell Res. 2009;3:63–70.
- Yu S, Tanabe T, Dezawa M, Ishikawa H, Yoshimura N. Effects of bone marrow stromal cell injection in an experimental glaucoma model. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2006;344:1071–1079.
- Zhao LR, Duan WM, Reyes M, Keene CD, Verfaillie CM, Low WC. Human bone marrow stem cells exhibit neural phenotypes and ameliorate neurological deficits after grafting into the ischemic brain of rats. Exp Neurol. 2002;174:11–20.
Source: PubMed