Sydney, Australia (CU)_ According to the study conducted by the University of Queensland researchers, the placenta of new moms of healthy infants may one day be utilized to prevent brain injury in growth-restricted kids. According to Dr Julie Wixey from the Centre for Clinical Research at University of Queensland, the study discovered that stem cells derived from a healthy placenta may significantly lower the harmful inflammation in these infants after just three days.
Dr Wixey explained about the treatment options. She said “There is currently no treatment to protect the brains of a growth-restricted baby. Up to 50 per cent of them have long term issues ranging from mild learning and behavioural disorders all the way through to cerebral palsy. We know there’s inflammation in the brain and it doesn’t cease once these babies are born”. She added, “Our study has shown we could reduce inflammation and ongoing brain injury by treating these newborns on the day they’re born using a combination of two types of stem cells – endothelial colony forming cells and mesenchymal stromal cells – isolated from a healthy human placenta.”
Each year, over 32 million growth-restricted babies are born worldwide, with approximately 10% of newborns in Australia afflicted. These newborns do not develop like normal babies during the pregnancy, generally due to a lack of nutrition and oxygen from the placenta. Dr Wixey spoke of the outcomes of the research. She said, “Our research has found after just three days, the combination stem cell therapy not only reduced inflammation but also, importantly, appeared to repair damaged blood vessels in the brain in animal models. We’re really excited by the outcomes of this study and we hope it’ll improve these babies’ lives long term.”
Professor Kiarash Khosrotehrani from the University of Queensland and Dr Jatin Patel from the Queensland University of Technology together found the patent technology for extracting stem cells from the placenta. The researchers will now conduct a follow-up study to determine the long-term effects of the combination stem cell therapy.
Dr Patel spoke about the future scope of the research. He said, “This has been a fantastic collaborative study and demonstrates the exciting potential of stem cell therapy in the near future in treating unwell babies”. She added, “We are now working towards scaling up our patented stem cell technology that will result in greater quantities of cells to drive and expand the preclinical animal studies with the aim of progressing towards a human trial.”
