New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS) A promising new therapy involving modified stem cells may offer significant hope for improving brain function in stroke survivors, a new study suggests. Stroke patients, particularly those with ischemic strokes, often face long-term challenges, including weakness, chronic pain, and epilepsy, with only about 5 percent fully recovering.
Scientists at Gladstone Institutes have demonstrated that stem cell therapy can restore normal brain activity after a stroke. Unlike most treatments that are effective only when administered within hours of a stroke, this therapy showed benefits even when given up to a month later.
Published in Molecular Therapy, the study is the first to detail how stem cells can positively impact brain activity after a stroke. This research could pave the way for improvements in stem cell treatments and lead to the development of other therapies with similar effects on the brain.
The scientists tested the therapy in rats, who were injected with modified human stem cells near the site of their stroke one month post-injury. They observed changes in the brain’s electrical activity and analyzed individual cells and molecules. The results revealed that the treatment helped reverse brain hyperexcitability, restoring balance in neural networks and boosting brain function.
While fewer than one percent of the human stem cells remained in the rats’ brains after a week, the improvements were long-lasting. The therapy also increased the production of proteins and cells crucial for brain repair. Clinical trials have already shown that stem cells can aid in regaining control over limbs, and these findings may hold the key to further advancing stroke recovery treatments.
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