Public release date: 15-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Jennifer Ganton jganton@ohri.ca 613-798-5555 x73325 Ottawa Hospital Research Institute A team of researchers from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) has been awarded $367,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and $75,000 from the Stem Cell Network to lead the first clinical trial in the world of a stem cell therapy for septic shock. This deadly condition occurs when an infection spreads throughout the body and over-activates the immune system, resulting in severe organ damage and death in 30 to 40 per cent of cases. Septic shock accounts for 20 per cent of all Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions in Canada and costs $4 billion annually. Under the leadership of Dr. Lauralyn McIntyre, this new "Phase I" trial will test the experimental therapy in up to 15 patients with septic shock at The Ottawa Hospital's ICU. The treatment involves mesenchymal stem cells, also called mesenchymal stromal cells or MSCs. Like other stem cells, they can give rise to a variety of more specialized cells and tissues and can help repair and regenerate damaged organs. They also have a unique ability to … Continue reading →

Public release date: 15-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Su-Chun Zhang zhang@waisman.wisc.edu 608-265-2543 University of Wisconsin-Madison MADISON -- Huntington's disease, the debilitating congenital neurological disorder that progressively robs patients of muscle coordination and cognitive ability, is a condition without effective treatment, a slow death sentence. But if researchers can build on new research reported this week (March 15, 2012) in the journal Cell Stem Cell, a special type of brain cell forged from stem cells could help restore the muscle coordination deficits that cause the uncontrollable spasms characteristic of the disease. "This is really something unexpected," says Su-Chun Zhang, a University of Wisconsin-Madison neuroscientist and the senior author of the new study, which showed that locomotion could be restored in mice with a Huntington's-like condition. Zhang is an expert at making different types of brain cells from human embryonic or induced pluripotent stem cells. In the new study, his group focused on what are known as GABA neurons, cells whose degradation is responsible for disruption of a key neural circuit and loss of motor function in Huntington's patients. GABA neurons, Zhang explains, produce a key neurotransmitter, a chemical that helps underpin the communication network in the brain that … Continue reading →

OTTAWA A team of Canadian researchers has been awarded $442,000 to test the world's first experimental stem-cell therapy aimed at patients who suffer from septic shock, a runaway infection of the bloodstream that's notoriously difficult to treat. The federal grant will allow researchers from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute to use mesenchymal stem cells, found in the bone marrow of healthy adults, to treat as many as 15 patients with septic shock. The deadly infection occurs when toxic bacteria spreads rapidly throughout the body and over-activates the immune system, leading to multiple organ failure and death in up to 40 per cent of cases. One in five patients admitted to intensive-care units suffers from septic shock, making it the most common illness among a hospital's sickest of the sick. Existing treatments focus on early diagnosis and intervention before organs start to fail. Patients with septic shock require aggressive resuscitation measures, large doses of intravenous antibiotics and, often, ventilators to help them breathe. Yet because the infection can creep up on patients rapidly and cause unpredictable complications, death from septic shock remains relatively common. The experimental therapy aims to use donor stem cells, grown and purified at the Ottawa laboratory, to … Continue reading →