Key findings
- China’s USTC First Affiliated Hospital reports early Phase 1 results from a stem cell transplant for Parkinson’s disease.
- In six patients treated since April, rapid symptom improvement and increased brain dopamine signaling have reportedly been observed.
- The researchers say they can convert injected stem cells into dopamine-producing neurons at a rate above 80%.
The South China Morning Post reported that a university hospital in Hefei, China, has seen promising early trial results from its iPSC-derived neural stem cell transplant for Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson’s primarily affects motor control, and can progress to severe rigidity and loss of independence. There is no cure, and current treatments generally focus on symptom management, often by temporarily replacing dopamine signaling without addressing the underlying neuron loss.
The trial
Since April, the investigators have been running a Phase 1 trial implanting neural stem cells into the brains of six patients, which are intended to become dopaminergic neurons, a key damaged cell type in Parkinson’s. The goal is for these newly formed neurons to restore dopamine signaling and improve motor symptoms.
The team told SCMP it has achieved about an 80% efficiency in converting the transplanted stem cells into functional dopamine-producing cells in patients.
“We ‘plant’ them in the patient’s brain and allow them to differentiate into brand new dopaminergic neurons that reshape the brain’s neural networks,” neurologist Shi Jiong, who is part of the study team, told SCMP. “Internationally leading teams recently reported a conversion rate of around 50 per cent, but our collaborative team achieved a rate of over 80 per cent through a series of efforts,” Dr Jiong said.
Reported early outcomes
We weren’t able to verify this with published data; however, the researchers reported to SCMP rapid symptom improvement and a sustained increase in dopamine signaling in participants’ brains. They also describe one patient outcome in detail: a 37-year-old participant whose Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale score reportedly dropped from 62 (severe disability) to 12 (resembling healthy levels), alongside marked improvement in tremor and rigidity.
Safety and next steps
According to the researchers, early results indicated the procedure was safe for patients, with transplanted cells surviving and producing dopamine. The team says it plans to recruit more patients for larger studies to further evaluate the therapy’s potential.
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