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Umbilical Cord Cells May Help Alzheimer's

Posted on: Friday, 28 March 2008, 00:00 CDT

After low-dose infusions of human umbilical cord cells into mice with an Alzheimer's-like disease, amyloid plaques dropped 62 percent, U.S. researchers said.

Amyloid plaques -- hallmarks of Alzheimer's pathology in the brain -- induces an inflammatory response in the brain associated with the interaction of CD40 and CD40L, two pro-inflammatory molecules.

Researchers at the University of South Florida, in Tampa, Fla.; Yale University, in New Haven, Conn.; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Saneron CCEL Therapeutics, in Tampa, Fla.; and Saitama Medical School in Japan also reported an astonishing 86 percent improvement in cerebral amyloid angiopathy, or CAA, another hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

CAA compromises the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, disrupting normal trafficking of various molecules and cells from and to the brain and is believed to be the main culprit for the brain inflammation observed in Alzheimer's, the researchers said.

It has been well documented that altered immune functioning, characterized by the presence of molecules and cells that promote inflammation, can accelerate the progression of Alzheimer's disease, senior study author Dr. Jun Tan of the University of South Florida said in a statement.

The findings were published in the journal Stem Cells and Development.

Source: United Press International

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