Cell therapy is a relatively new official method of treatment, which is based on the introduction of cells into the human body. These cells most often are stem cells or different types of progenitor cells, T-lymphocytes and others are also used.
The mechanism of the therapeutic action of cells is due to their specialization and functional activity, and the assignment and function of cell populations are different. If hematopoietic stem cells are introduced to a person, this procedure has been known in medicine as bone marrow transplantation for almost 70 years, they give rise to new blood cells – red blood cells, leukocytes, platelets, which is very important in hematology. Although hematopoietic stem cells, by means of growth factors secretion, also stimulate recovery of:
- cardiac muscle, damaged by infarction;
- liver, affected by cirrhosis;
- contribute to the recovery of the nervous function in patients after a stroke or cranial injury.
At the same time, mesenchymal stem cells are transformed into connective tissue structures, and these are bones, cartilage, joints, blood vessels, and heart endocardium. Mesenchymal stem cells also have an anti-inflammatory effect, and are used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis, ankylosing spondylarthrosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, vasculitides).
Stem cells are most often isolated from bone marrow and perinatal tissues (umbilical cord blood, umbilical cord, placenta). The advantages of the latter are higher functional activity and genetic stability, because collected in the first minutes of life, they have not yet been exposed to environmental factors, drugs, alcohol, etc.
For therapeutic purposes, both own (autologous) and allogenic (donor) stem cells are used. The advantage of autologous cells is complete immunological compatibility, but in some diseases allogeneic transplant is preferred or the only one indicated.
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the only effective treatment for such diseases as
- some forms of leukemias and lymphomas;
- congenital aplastic anemia (f.i. sickle cell anemia);
- primary immunodeficiencies (Nijmegen syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich and Louis-Barr syndromes, сhronic granulematous disease and others);
- genetically mediated metabolic defects (lack or absence of certain enzymes);
- some forms of malignant tumors;
- radiation disease, etc.
But it is worth noting that stem cells, like any other drug or surgery, are rarely used in monotherapy, in most cases cell therapy accompanies surgery or drug treatment.
The Institute of Cell Therapy on the basis of a modern ISO-accredited clinic has long experience of successful stem cells application in complex treatment of:
- cardiovascular diseases;
- liver cirrhosis and viral hepatitis;
- neurological diseases;
- diabetes mellitus type 1 and 2;
- metabolic syndrome;
- diseases of the musculoskeletal system;
- infertility;
- as well as in the programs of anti-age therapy.