[스포츠조선 장종호 기자] One year after administering the embryonic stem cell-derived midbrain dopamine neuron treatment, it showed effectiveness in Parkinson’s disease patients. The clinical research team, led by Professor Lee Pil-hyu of the Department of Neurology at Severance Hospital and Professor Jin-woo Jang of Neurosurgery at Korea University Anam Hospital, treated 12 Parkinson’s disease patients. It was revealed that the drug was administered at a low dose and at a high dose, respectively, and showed an improvement in symptoms one year after the transplant surgery. Parkinson’s patients, who started playing badminton and table tennis after one year of administration and whose daily life became more convenient, had previously lost dopamine. Even after receiving drug treatment, these patients showed side effects such as a decrease in drug efficacy or freezing of gait, which makes it difficult to walk. Severance Hospital plans to follow up and monitor progress for up to 2 years after transplantation according to the clinical trial plan. am. Regarding safety, one of the 12 patients who have been transplanted to date had minor bleeding in surrounding areas unrelated to the transplant site, but there were no unusual neurological abnormalities or side effects. Additionally, no unusual side effects related to cell transplantation were observed in any of the patients.
The research team measured the degree of symptom improvement in three patient groups among the total 12 subjects administered the low dose (3.15 million cells) and the high dose (6.3 million cells) one year after administration.
On the Hohenya scale, which classifies Parkinson’s disease symptoms into stages 1 to 5 according to severity, an average of 19.4% (stage 3.7 → stage 3) of low-dose recipients improved. In those receiving high doses, an average of 44.4% (3.7 stages → 2 stages) improved. The degree of improvement at high doses means improvement from a severe state to the initial state of the disease.
In the Parkinson’s Assessment Scale, which evaluates objective motor performance and scores increase as the severity increases, low-dose recipients showed a 22.7% improvement (12.7 point decrease), and high-dose recipients showed a 25.3% improvement (13 point decrease). Temporary movement when walking or changing direction. The side effect of freezing gait, which stops walking, completely disappeared in one of two low-dose recipients (50% improvement), and in three high-dose recipients, it completely disappeared (100% improvement), indicating recovery to normal.
In the case of some recipients, the Parkinson’s Assessment Scale significantly improved by 40.7% (22 points decrease) after one year, suggesting the potential of this treatment as a game changer in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Dopamine cells that secrete dopamine were also observed when dopamine brain imaging was taken. An increase in the engraftment signal could be observed, and the signal increase was large at high doses. The increased signal in this brain image showed a direct correlation with patient efficacy indicators, which showed effectiveness as evidence of the treatment mechanism. Dopamine is a substance that helps people move smoothly, and is secreted in small amounts in Parkinson’s disease patients.
Professor Kim Dong-wook of the Department of Physiology at Yonsei University College of Medicine, the developer of the treatment, said, “The cell therapy we developed uses human embryonic stem cells, so it is not only effective in treating Parkinson’s disease, but also reduces typical side effects such as freezing of gait and loss of drug efficacy.” “As a patient who had been suffering from the disease for a long time started enjoying badminton and walking after receiving the drug, this fundamental treatment will contribute to helping patients regain a healthy life,” he said. S-Biomedics Co., Ltd. is responsible for manufacturing and supplying Parkinson’s disease cell therapy products.
Reporter Jong-ho Jang [email protected]
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