How Stem cells Heart can be the Key to Treating Crohn's Disease

A ray of hope lights up for the ones who suffering from Crohn’s disease. A study conducted at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has revealed a groundbreaking discovery. By directly injecting neonatal mesenchymal stem cells derived from discarded heart tissue obtained during surgery, researchers were able to observe significant reductions in intestinal inflammation and enhanced wound healing in a mouse model that mimics Crohn’s disease-like ileitis (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Multipotent Human Neonatal Cardiac-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Modulate Ileitis In Vivo

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What is Crohn’s Disease?

Crohn’s disease is characterized by persistent intestinal inflammation and gradual tissue damage, and this novel approach presents a hopeful and effective alternative treatment option. Unlike existing medications for Crohn’s disease, which suffer from declining efficacy, severe side effects, and increased risk of gastrointestinal dysfunction, this new method shows great potential in overcoming these challenges. The findings were published in the prestigious journalAdvanced Therapeutics.

Cardiac Cells to the Rescue of People Who are Suffering from Crohn’s Disease

“Neonatal cardiac-derived mesenchymal stem cells have been used in a clinical trial to repair an injured heart, but this is the first time these potent cells have been studied in an inflammatory intestinal disease model,” said senior author Arun Sharma, Ph.D., from Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Lurie Children’s who is the Director of Pediatric Urological Regenerative Medicine and Surgical Research, and Research Associate Professor of Urology and Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University.

“Our results are encouraging and definitely provide a new platform to potentially treat aspects of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases.”

Dr. Sharma explains that before it would be feasible to use these stem cells clinically to treat Crohn’s disease, his team needs to overcome the hurdle of how they are administered.

In the current animal model study, the stem cells were injected directly into the inflammatory lesions in the small intestine, which requires surgical procedures. The next step then is to develop a safe way to inject them into the body through a vein, similar to performing a blood draw in the arm of a patient. More animal studies will be needed before this novel treatment approach can progress to clinical trials.

“Ultimately our goal is to utilize this cell type as treatment, but also as a preventive measure, before signs and symptoms of Crohn’s disease develop,” said Dr. Sharma. “We also might be able to apply this approach to other inflammatory diseases. The potential is enormous, and we are excited to move forward.”

Reference:

1. Multipotent Human Neonatal Cardiac-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Modulate Ileitis In Vivo - (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adtp.202200261)

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Source-Eurekalert