Startling new study shows stroke patient recovery aided by adult stem cell injection

A new study from Stanford University School of Medicine that used injections of adult stem cells into the brain of stroke patients has had startling results in the recovery of motor function. The small clinical trial set the stage for a larger study that is now getting under way.

The procedure used modified, adult human stem cells injected directly into the brain. The patients had all suffered from a single stroke 6 months to 3 years before. A small hold was drilled through their skull for the injection. All patients went home the next day.

More than 75 percent of the patients experienced headaches afterward, but there were no side effects that could be attributed to the stem cells themselves, and no life-threatening adverse effects from the procedure.

The cells, called SB623 cells, were mesenchymal stem cells obtained from the bone marrow of two adult donors. The cells were modified to alter their ability to restore neurologic functions. Mesenchymal stem cells are naturally occurring cells that have the ability to become muscle, bone, fat or tendon tissues. They are easily harvested from bone marrow, and trigger no strong immune reactions in recipients.

One patient, Sonia Olea Coontz, had a stroke in May 2011. She had impaired physical function in her right arm and leg. After the procedure she said, “They woke up.”

Gary Steinberg, MD, PhD, who is a professor and the chair of neurosurgery, cautions that this was just a small, single trial. He led the study, which included 18 patients, and performed 12 of the procedures himself. He said that, although the study was designed primarily as a test of the procedure’s safety, patients improved in a statistically significant and clinically meaningful way. “Their ability to move around has recovered visibly.”

Steinberg says the results of the study are “unprecedented.” “At 6 months out from a stroke, you don’t expect to see any further recovery.”

About 800,000 people suffer from strokes every year in the U.S. About 85 percent are ischemic strokes, which occur when a blood clot forms in a vessel that supplies blood to the brain, causing intensive damage to the affected area. Where and how significant loss of function may be depends on where in the brain the stroke occurs.

The study results were published online in Stroke on June 2.