Japan approves iPS cell test for treatment of spinal cord injury



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TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese scientists will test the use of human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) to treat spinal cord injury, a Ministry of Health panel said on Monday. approved the research project.

The Tokyo Keio University research team plans to inject approximately two million iPS cells into the damaged areas of a patient and review the results over the course of a year, in accordance with the plan approved by the Ministry of Health.

So-called iPS cells are made by removing mature cells from an individual – often from the skin – and reprogramming them to behave like embryonic stem cells.

Last year, clinical trials on the use of reprogrammed stem cells in the treatment of Parkinson's disease began in Japan.

The Ministry of Health committee has already given the green light to the use of iPS cells to treat patients with rare eye disease or blood disease.

The Keio University team, led by Professors Hideyuki Okano and Masaya Nakamura, will search four patients aged 18 or older who have lost their mobility and sensory functions due to a two-fold spinal cord injury. four weeks earlier.

The teachers were not immediately available to comment.

The Japan Spinal Cord Foundation estimates that more than 100,000 people suffer from spinal cord injuries in the country.

Report by Takashi Umekawa; edited by Darren Schuettler

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