Stem cells and restorative medicine

Stem cells and restorative medicine

In recent years, stem cell research has become the fastest growing field in biology and biomedicine. There are a growing number of reports in the scientific press about the successful treatment of various diseases through stem cell transplants. With the rapid increase in the number of patients with oncological, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, degenerative diseases of the musculoskeletal system and autoimmune diseases, new ways are being sought to restore the damaged tissues, organs and functions of these diseases. Often, the process of treating the underlying disease is traumatic to the body, and it is necessary to think about how to restore the function of tissues that are no longer able to do their job after the underlying disease has been cured, or have deformities or scars.

Regenerative medicine is a field of medicine designed to replace tissue damaged by illness or injury. Regenerative medicine is divided into:

• cell therapy

• gene therapy.

Cell therapy is a new, fast-growing field of medicine that offers the opportunity to treat many of these diseases by promoting natural healing processes, restoring damaged tissues, organs and their functions through genetic and tissue engineering, transplanting new and healthy cells. This therapy is also called stem cell therapy, which is currently considered to be the most promising way to restore the function of damaged tissues or organs.

The most prominent and well-known example of cell therapy is the use of donor stem cells for bone marrow transplantation. It is currently the main approved stem cell treatment option. With the help of these cells it is already possible to cure many diseases - these are acute and chronic leukemias, myelodysplastic syndromes, stem cell disorders, myeloproliferative and lymphoproliferative disorders, inherited metabolic, erythrocyte, immune system disorders, various forms of cancer.

New indications are being added to the list of diseases that can be treated with stem cells every day. 

These include myocardial infarction, age-related degenerative diseases, incurable bone or cartilage defects, hepatitis, diabetes, burns and other serious illnesses. For the time being, the methods of treating these diseases have only an experimental status.

In order to start cell therapy, it is first important that a sufficient number of cells are obtained and maintained. To date, the main source of adult stem cells used for transplantation has been and is bone marrow and peripheral blood. However, it is already known that the source of stem cells can be leftover tissues that are traditionally discarded, including adipose tissue left over after surgery. They have a lot of stem cells. These cells can be used to treat the person from whom they were isolated.

Of great value in the family is the preservation of the biological material of the newborn's umbilical cord blood and umbilical cord tissue in a stem cell bank, as these cells are new and more active compared to adult human tissues.

Just as the treatment of many diseases with cell therapy is in an experimental stage, various therapies are being applied on the basis of positive observations, and there is still a long way to go before they can be included in the list of fully approved methods. Plasma therapy is the most popular of the methods used to improve and restore tissue function.

The beginnings of plasma therapy are autochemotherapy, which has a history of more than 100 years and for which there were quite opposite views in the medical community 20 years ago. Plasma therapy is widely used in both regenerative and aesthetic medicine. Plasma therapy can naturally activate the body's self-regenerating function without surgery or the use of drugs that are harmful to the body. In recent years, this method, the effectiveness of which has been proven by clinical trials, has been successfully used in practice, in various fields of medicine: orthopedics, gynecology, surgery, urology, as well as aesthetic medicine. This method is based on plasma injections from the patient's own blood, which promotes the regeneration of the body's cells.

How does this happen?

Blood is taken from the patient's vein, centrifuged to separate the red blood cells, leaving the part of the plasma containing the new cells in the tube. Plasma prepared in this way can be used for administration to the problem area, but additional preparations, such as platelet-enriched plasma, can be prepared. The reconstituted material can be injected into the joints or into areas of atrophied muscle and other tissues. Plasma growth factors trigger the process of tissue regeneration.

Growth factor

A natural protein in the human body that stimulates the growth, proliferation and differentiation of living cells. These include platelet-derived growth factor, transforming growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, epithelial growth factor, and the like.

Platelets play an important role in the body's function and tissue regeneration. By releasing growth factor, they stimulate the division and growth of damaged cells. Elevated blood platelets promote tissue regeneration and wound healing. The therapeutic effect occurs when the platelet count in the blood increases several times.

Platelet

Enriched plasma is a blood plasma that contains an increased amount of platelets that act on the body's tissues to promote healing, regenerative and regenerative processes. Platelet-enriched plasma contains 3 to 5 times the amount of growth factors, cytokines and biologically active proteins that are present in normal blood. This method is increasingly used to treat joint pain and delay the arthrosis process.

Most people over the age of 50 experience joint pain and discomfort. This pain is caused by cartilage and bone changes associated with aging. This method helps to delay the aging process of the musculoskeletal system and prevent degenerative changes in the joints, restoring the patient's joy of life, moving without pain.

Plasma therapy is a modern field of aesthetic and regenerative medicine. This method is based on plasma injections from the patient's own blood, which promotes the regeneration of the body's cells.

By administering platelet-enriched plasma in problem areas, it activates the function of connective tissue cells and activates the biological mechanism of the skin's natural regeneration. Under the influence of PRP injection, cells in the deeper layers of the dermis begin to synthesize collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid, which ensure skin smoothness and elasticity. This method is an advanced field of aesthetic medicine, which is widely used in the world's leading clinics.

Stem cell therapy is used and researched in the world not only in the treatment of arthrosis, urological, gynecological diseases, joint problems and sports injuries, but also in the treatment of other diseases, such as hair loss (alopecia).

Mesenchymal stem cells are the most suitable material for the treatment of allopenia. These cells in the world for the treatment of allopecia are mostly derived from adipose tissue, more precisely, from the part of adipose tissue located in adipose tissue near the walls of blood vessels (pericytes - dormant stem cells that are activated when needed). The treatment of mesenchymal stem cells uses the ability of these cells to restore the degenerative and atrophic tissue changes that occur, for example, as the body ages. This means that, through a special procedure, these cells are obtained, activated and then injected into the tissues where regeneration is needed. Mesenchymal stem cells can also be isolated from neonatal umbilical cord tissue and stored in a stem cell bank for hour X already propagated, ready for use, or for further propagation and processing.

In case of hair loss, the material obtained after the activation of the stem cells is injected into the tissues with the help of the subcutaneous injection technique, where the activation of regeneration is required. Stem cells injected into the scalp "send" a growth signal with the help of growth factors and cytokines released by them and thus promote the formation of new hair follicles. The purpose of the procedure is to restore the functionality and quality of the tissue. The result is usually seen after 1 to 3 months. Of course, as with any method, the effects of stem cell therapy can vary from individual to individual, and no one is guaranteed 100%.

Platelet

Rich plasma is also used to treat hair loss, which is relatively much simpler (the injectable material is obtained from a patient's blood when a number of growth factors, including platelet-derived growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, transforming growth factor beta, insulin-like growth factor and a number of others) procedure performed three or more times in a month and may be repeated as needed. You can combine both methods.

Here we looked at the use of stem cells in restorative medicine, although initially the idea of ​​using stem cells in treatment came up with the idea of ​​being able to offer treatment options for many diseases that have hitherto been considered incurable. To date, more than 1 million stem cell transplants have been performed worldwide and have been studied in more than 5,000 clinical trials. 

Doctors and scientists confirm that stem cells are one of the cornerstones of regenerative medicine and can offer treatment options for many dangerous diseases to save lives. In the case of mesenchymal cells, there is still a considerable amount of documentation and bureaucratic procedures for scientists to complete in order for all of these methods to be included in treatment guidelines. Recent publications and the growing number of successful cases confirm that stem cell therapy is a 21st century technology and opportunity.