Scientists around the world call the 21st century the century of biomedicine. And this is quite understandable, because this area Medicine is developing at incredible speed. It’s not for nothing that last years for discoveries in the field of cell technology, scientists received 7 Nobel Prizes! And this is far from the limit, because the prospects for stem cell treatment today look absolutely limitless! But first things first.
Historical reference
Stem cells were discovered by Russian scientist Alexander Maksimov back in 1909. It was he who became the founder of regenerative medicine. However, the first operation to transplant such cells was carried out much later, in the 70s of the last century. And although scientists are still arguing about the safety of using stem cells, by the beginning of the 21st century, 1,200 operations involving transplantation of stem cells taken from the umbilical cord had been carried out in the world. In Russia, such treatment methods for a long time were wary, and therefore the first permitted operation was carried out only in 2010. Today in our country there are several clinics offering this method for the treatment of a variety of diseases.
What are stem cells and why are they needed?
Stem cells are immature (undifferentiated) cells found in all multicellular organisms. The peculiarity of such cells is their unique ability divide, forming new stem cells, and also differentiate, that is, turn into cells of certain organs and tissues. In fact, stem cells are a kind of reserve reserve of our body, thanks to which the process of cellular renewal is carried out.
The use of stem cells in the treatment of diseases is a real breakthrough in modern medicine. Today there is reliable evidence that, thanks to stem cells, it is possible to treat cancer, atherosclerosis, stroke, myocardial infarction, autoimmune and allergic diseases, diabetes and endocrine disorders, spinal and brain injuries. Stem cells improve the condition of the skin, bones and cartilage tissue, strengthen the immune system and increase potency. Moreover, today there is a positive practice of treating Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases with the help of these biological substances!
Moreover, stem cells make it possible to get rid of a serious illness once and for all, which is much cheaper than trying to treat the disease with medications year after year. And this fact has long been confirmed by patients who, using this method, got rid of rheumatoid arthritis and bronchial asthma.
Moreover, with the help of these biological substances, infertility can now be successfully treated. Specialists create cells that temporarily suppress a woman's immune function, as a result of which the body does not reject the fetus. According to statistics, every second woman who decided on this method of combating infertility became pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful baby. As you can see, the scope of application of these amazing cells seems simply limitless!
The essence of treatment
Of course, cell therapy is not a panacea for all ailments. Treatment with such cells has a number of contraindications and cannot be used without a balanced approach.
What is the essence of this method? It turns out that miracle cells have two the most important functions– they divide themselves and activate the reproduction of other cells in the body. The point of treatment is that when they enter a diseased organ, the cells trigger the immune system and release bioactive substances that activate the affected organ’s own stem cells to renew. As a result of the replacement of old cells with new ones, the regeneration process occurs, thanks to which the organ is gradually restored.
Types of stem cells
Several types of miracle cells are known to medicine. These are fetal, embryonic, postnatal and many other immature cells. The most commonly used treatments are hematopoietic cells (HSCs) and mesenchymal cells (MSCs), which are obtained from bone marrow, including pelvic bones, ribs, as well as adipose tissue and some other tissues that have a good blood supply. The choice in favor of these cells was made for a reason. According to scientists, treatment with hematopoietic and mesenchymal cells is highly effective and safe, which means that there is no possibility that they will mutate and provoke the development of a tumor, which is quite possible when fetal or embryonic cells are introduced.
But it’s no secret that with age, the number of stem cells in the human body becomes less and less. For example, if an embryo has one cell per 10 thousand normal ones, then a 70-year-old person has one cell per 7-8 million. Thus, only 30 thousand mesenchymal cells are released into the blood of an adult every day. This is only enough to eliminate minor disorders, but is completely insufficient to protect against serious illnesses or slow down the aging process.
However, stem cell treatment makes it possible to achieve the impossible. According to modern scientists, when stem cells are introduced into the body, the necessary “regenerative fund” is created, thanks to which a person gets better and gets rid of diseases. This use of stem cells by doctors is very similar to filling up a car with fuel. Doctors simply inject stem cells into a vein, as if they “fill” the body with high-quality fuel, thanks to which a person gets rid of diseases and lives longer!
On average, treatment of diseases involves the introduction into the blood of about 1 million cells per 1 kg of weight. To combat severe pathologies, the patient should be injected with 2-3 million stem cells for every 1 kg of weight. According to doctors, this is a natural mechanism for treating diseases, which will become the main method of treating almost all pathologies in the very near future.
Myths and reality
Despite the successes that biomedical specialists have achieved to date, mistrust in this method of treating diseases is still high. Perhaps this is due to the information that periodically appears in the media about famous personalities, whose attempts to treat or rejuvenate the body ended sadly. Doctors at private clinics who are licensed to treat with such cells classify these information rumors as “inflated sensations,” reasonably noting that the messages do not contain information about the method of treatment and the type of cells used. Experts from scientific government institutions resolutely refuse to comment on such rumors. Perhaps it is precisely because of the lack of complete information that the public is torn by doubts about the safety of such treatment.
However, people who agreed to stem cell therapy are still called “guinea pigs.” According to the head physician of one of the clinics providing such treatment, Yuri Kheifets: “It is simply incorrect to talk about our patients as guinea pigs. I know of cases of allergies to this material, but the allergy was caused not by the cells, but by the nutrient medium that got into the cell culture. But I have not heard of a single case of death after the introduction of such cells!”
The specialist is supported by Doctor of Medical Sciences Professor Alexander Teplyashin. According to the scientist: “In Europe and the USA they have already begun to realize all the benefits and effectiveness that stem cells bring. That is why our specialists, who have been involved in stem cell treatment for a long time, are extremely in demand in these countries. We still have a lack of trust in this method treatment, and it’s very upsetting.”
Scientists draw attention to the fact that the debate regarding the benefits and harms of antibiotics has not yet subsided, but it is known what kind of catastrophe humanity would face if it were not for these medicines. The same thing happens with stem cells. At the same time, experts note that not all stem cells are suitable for therapy.
Price issue
Another question haunts ordinary people. It seems that cell treatment has been going on for a long time, the technology has been thoroughly studied, and new clinics providing stem cell treatment are sprouting like mushrooms. Why does therapy remain so expensive?
Experts answer that growing stem cells is a long-term and quite expensive process. In addition, the state does not finance such projects, which is why they develop much more slowly.
It is true that progress is being observed in this process. Today in Russia there are cellular drugs, the cost of which is equal to the cost of traditional treatment. For example, a product to combat arthrosis costs no more than a gel intended for injection into a diseased joint. At the same time, the drug allows you to treat the joint, while the gel fights only pain. However, all components for growing stem cells in our country are currently purchased in the USA.
If we talk in detail about the cost of treatment, then the data from various sources differ in many respects. For example, according to information from Moskovsky Komsomolets, stem cell therapy in Russia today ranges from $10,000 to $12,000.
At the same time, the website of the Moscow clinic “Newest Medicine” states that the full cost of cell therapy or a course of revitalization will cost $30,000–32,000.
At the same time, a number of companies involved in organizing stem cell treatment in Germany provide data according to which the full course of treatment will cost the patient $9,000–15,000.
Stem cells are undifferentiated (immature) cells found in many types of multicellular organisms. Stem cells are capable of self-renewal, forming new stem cells, dividing through mitosis and differentiating into specialized cells, that is, turning into cells various organs and fabrics.
The development of multicellular organisms begins with a single stem cell, which is commonly called a zygote. As a result of numerous cycles of division and differentiation, all types of cells characteristic of a given biological species are formed. In the human body there are more than 220 such types of cells. Stem cells are preserved and function in the adult body, thanks to them the renewal and restoration of tissues and organs can be carried out. However, as the body ages, their number decreases.
In modern medicine, human stem cells are transplanted, that is, transplanted into medicinal purposes. For example, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is performed to restore the process of hematopoiesis (blood formation) in the treatment of leukemia and lymphomas.
Self-updating
There are two mechanisms that maintain the stem cell population in the body:
1. Asymmetric division, in which the same pair of cells is produced (one stem cell and one differentiated cell).
2. Stochastic division: one stem cell divides into two more specialized ones.
Where do stem cells come from?
SC can be obtained from various sources. Some of them have strictly scientific applications, others are used in clinical practice today. According to their origin, they are divided into embryonic, fetal, umbilical cord blood cells and adult cells.
Embryonic stem cells
The first type of stem cells should be called cells that are formed during the first few divisions of a fertilized egg (zygote) - each can develop into an independent organism (for example, identical twins are obtained).
After a few days of embryonic development, at the blastocyst stage, embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can be isolated from its inner cell mass. They are capable of differentiating into absolutely all types of cells of an adult organism; they are capable of dividing indefinitely under certain conditions, forming the so-called “immortal lines”. But this source of SC has disadvantages. Firstly, in an adult body, these cells are capable of spontaneously degenerating into cancer cells. Secondly, the world has not yet isolated a safe line of truly embryonic stem cells suitable for clinical use. Cells obtained in this way (in most cases using the cultivation of animal cells) are used by world science for research and experiments. Clinical use of such cells is impossible today.
Fetal stem cells
Very often in Russian articles, embryonic SCs are called cells obtained from aborted fetuses (fetuses). This is not true! In the scientific literature, cells obtained from fetal tissue are called fetal.
Fetal SCs are obtained from abortive material at 6-12 weeks of pregnancy. They do not have the above-described properties of ESCs obtained from blastocysts, that is, the ability for unlimited reproduction and differentiation into any type of specialized cells. Fetal cells have already begun differentiation, and, therefore, each of them, firstly, can go through only a limited number of divisions and, secondly, give rise to not just any, but quite a few certain types specialized cells. This fact makes their clinical use safer. Thus, specialized liver cells and hematopoietic cells can develop from fetal liver cells. From fetal nervous tissue, accordingly, more specialized nerve cells etc.
Cell therapy as a type of stem cell treatment originates precisely from the use of fetal SCs. In the last 50 years in different countries A series of clinical studies using them have been carried out around the world.
In Russia, in addition to ethical and legal tensions, the use of untested abortifacient material is fraught with complications, such as infection of the patient with the herpes virus, viral hepatitis and even AIDS. The process of isolating and obtaining FGC is complex; it requires modern equipment and special knowledge.
However, with professional supervision, well-prepared fetal stem cells have enormous potential in clinical medicine. Work with fetal SCs in Russia today is limited scientific research. Their clinical use has no legal basis. Such cells are used more widely and officially today in China and some other Asian countries.
Cord blood cells
Placental cord blood collected after the birth of a child is also a source of stem cells. This blood is very rich in stem cells. By taking this blood and placing it in a cryobank for storage, it can later be used to restore many organs and tissues of the patient, as well as for treatment various diseases, primarily hematological and oncological.
However, the amount of SCs in cord blood at birth is not large enough, and their effective use, as a rule, is possible only once for the child himself under the age of 12-14 years. As you grow older, the volume of harvested SCs becomes insufficient for a full clinical effect.
About cell therapy
Cell therapy is a new official direction in medicine, based on the use of the regenerative potential of adult stem cells to treat a number of serious diseases, rehabilitate patients after injuries, and combat premature signs of aging. Stem cells are also considered a promising biomaterial for creating biological prostheses of heart valves, blood vessels and trachea, and are used as a unique biofiller for the restoration of bone defects and other purposes of plastic and reconstructive surgery.
Scientists explain the mechanism of the restorative action of stem cells as their ability to transform into cells of the blood, liver, myocardium, bone, cartilage or nervous tissue and thus restore damaged organs, and through the production of various growth factors to restore the functional activity of other cells (according to the so-called paracrine type).
For clinical purposes, stem cells are most often obtained from bone marrow and umbilical cord blood; also, after preliminary stimulation of hematopoiesis, the number of stem cells required for treatment can be isolated from the peripheral blood of an adult. In recent years, there have been more and more reports in the world about the clinical use of stem cells isolated from the placenta, adipose tissue, umbilical cord tissue, amniotic fluid and even the pulp of baby teeth.
Depending on the disease, age and condition of the patient, one or another source of stem cells may be preferable. For more than 50 years, hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells have been used to treat leukemia and lymphomas, and this treatment method is commonly known as bone marrow transplantation, although today, in hematology clinics around the world, hematopoietic stem cells are increasingly obtained from umbilical cord and peripheral blood. At the same time, to treat brain and spinal cord injuries, promote fracture healing and chronic wounds It is more expedient to use mesenchymal stem cells, which are precursors of connective tissue.
Mesenchymal stem cells are rich in adipose tissue, placenta, umbilical cord blood, and amniotic fluid. Given the immunosuppressive effect of mesenchymal stem cells, they are also used to treat a number of autoimmune diseases(multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, etc.), as well as post-transplant complications (to prevent rejection of the transplanted donor organ). For treatment cardiovascular diseases, including ischemia lower limbs, the most promising is considered to be umbilical cord blood, which contains a special type of so-called endothelial progenitor stem cells, which are not found in any other tissue of the human body.
What diseases can be cured with stem cells?
Stem cell treatment has been successfully used in the treatment of leukemia, lymphoma and other severe hereditary diseases where traditional methods of therapy are ineffective.
Cord blood transplantation has been successfully used for most types of leukemia, including lymphoma, Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's, as well as plasma cell diseases, congenital anemias, severe combined immunodeficiencies, congenital neutropenia, osteoporosis and many other serious diseases.
In the near future, stem cells will be used to treat stroke, myocardial infarction, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes mellitus, muscle diseases, and liver failure. Stem cells can also have a positive effect during hearing loss.
This year, the results of a study by scientists who used stem cells in the treatment of children born with autism syndrome will become known.
“There are examples when a newborn saved his mother. A woman from Canada was diagnosed with leukemia during pregnancy, could not find a donor, and doctors were able to save the mother with umbilical cord blood from her 31-week baby. She is alive after 15 years and feels great,” he shared.
Today, scientists are also working on multiplying stem cells in incubators so that their use becomes reusable.
Myths and truth about stem cell treatment
Myth No. 1. The use of cellular technologies is fraught with the risk of infection with dangerous infectious diseases
The legislation clearly regulates the rules for the production of biomedical cell products. In essence, they are very similar to the rules adopted for pharmaceutical production and are based on standard GMP requirements. That is, this is a very careful incoming control of cellular material - all cell samples are tested for HIV-1, HIV-2, hepatitis B and C. The next stage is production control, which must be absolutely clean. Then - control at the release of a batch of cellular product, during which studies are added for infections such as mycoplasma, cytomegalovirus, toxoplasma, and all sexually transmitted infections. Thus, all risks of infection are reduced to zero.
Myth No. 2. Animal products are used to cultivate cells, which means they can cause allergies. The reaction can also be caused by stem cells from another person (allogeneic)
Indeed, standard cell culture (propagation) technology involves the use of animal products (usually obtained from organs of large cattle). These products may trigger an allergic reaction. Therefore, now they are used only in laboratory conditions, and for cultivating cells for treatment, reagents are used that are produced without animal components.
As for allergies to the cells themselves, when treating with your own stem cells (autologous), according to for obvious reasons, there cannot be an allergic reaction. And to avoid a reaction to foreign allogeneic cells, they try to lengthen the intervals between their administration to 3-4 weeks. In case of allergic manifestations, the course of treatment is interrupted, but in fact, with the correct administration of the drug, serious allergic complications are extremely rare.
Our experience suggests that with a properly selected treatment regimen, there are no allergic reactions to cellular components. To be on the safe side, before starting therapy, you can perform standard tests - administering the drug in small doses to check the body's reaction.
Myth No. 3. Stem cells can turn into tumor cells and provoke the development of cancer
More than 500 clinical trials have already been conducted around the world, the first phase of which is carried out to check safety, and so far none have obtained any data on the oncological danger, not a single tumor formation has been registered. Although theoretically the risk is possible. Therefore, all obtained cells, both for autotransplantation and allogeneic transplantation, are necessarily tested for tumorigenicity and oncogenicity.
Tumorigenicity assumes that the cells independently transform into tumor cells, and oncogenicity assumes that the cells that we introduced act on the recipient's cells in such a way that they degenerate. Therefore, they are necessarily tested using the same methods as in the production of pharmaceuticals - some part of the drug is administered to special animals (athymic mice - that is, those without their own immunity) and if some tumor cell reaches them, the tumor appears. This is the standard testing method and the most reliable one today. The Biomedical Products Act requires that this be carried out for any cell product.
When it comes to allogeneic transplantation, the risk of developing a tumor is even theoretically unlikely: cells transplanted from one person to another, although they are not rejected, do not live long; they die after about a month. And this eliminates the risks. And they have fusion of bone tissue, formation of cartilage tissue, anti-inflammatory, wound healing and immunomodulatory effects due to the fact that they stimulate the patient’s own cells.
Myth No. 4. The use of cellular technologies can only be individual, and the cost of such treatment will not allow this technique to be made widespread, which means it has no future
Clinics like Pokrovsky Bank will continue to produce cell preparations for autotransplantation for a specific person; this, indeed, will never be the task of commercial production. For large businesses, the production of only allogeneic drugs is profitable. It’s convenient – you produce a product and certify the entire batch. Therefore, manufacturers are trying to solve the problem of obtaining large quantity stem cells from so-called salvaged tissues. That is, their receipt should not be accompanied by painful sensations and at the same time acceptable from an ethical point of view - we are talking, for example, about the umbilical cords, the placenta. Such enterprises already exist abroad.
Myth No. 5. Cellular technologies have remained in experimental medicine for so long because there is no evidence of their effectiveness.
This is wrong. Many cell technologies have already entered clinical practice, and their effectiveness has been proven, both in theory and in practice. Most clinical trials have been conducted and data have been accumulated on the use of stem cells in traumatology and orthopedics. Depending on the lesion, it leads to complete or partial restoration of cartilage and bone tissue. Doctors see this effect well. Now in Canada, the third phase of clinical trials on the use of stem cells in a different way is being completed - they are injected into the knee joint and, as a result, cartilage tissue is restored. This occurs partly due to the fact that the cells populate the surface of the joint, partly due to the fact that they stimulate the patient's own cells, due to which the restored cartilage tissue consists not of transplanted foreign cells, but of the patient's own cells. Similar studies were carried out at Pokrovsky Bank. We got very similar results.
The effectiveness of cellular technologies actually has a large evidence base. But the results of their clinical application are very dependent on the doctor and biologist who carry out the treatment - the use of this method of therapy, like any other, needs to be learned. It is necessary to prepare the cells correctly, very carefully calculate their number, defrost them in a timely manner and organize transportation so that they can be used within 8 hours...
It has already been developed at the Pediatric University, and at the Northwestern State Medical University named after. Mechnikov is preparing a training course on the use of stem cells. Our specialists will read it; we hope that the result for practicing doctors will be a complete understanding of when, for what diseases and how cell therapy should be used.
Myth No. 6. Cell therapy is a therapy of despair, but it can cure everything
It so happens that some doctors do not trust stem cell treatment methods, while others, on the contrary, are confident in their omnipotence. But you need to understand that regenerative therapy only works as an element complex treatment – traditional methods and methods of regenerative therapy itself. We always explain this to our patients.
In addition, regenerative therapy is not always able to completely cure a person, but what it can almost always do is reduce the manifestation of symptoms or slow down the rate of progression of the disease. For many patients this is very important. For example, for patients with type 1 diabetes. After a course of treatment, remission occurs for 0.5 to a year, during this time some patients may even refuse insulin, the progress of the disease slows down, and blood biochemical parameters improve. But the disease does not disappear forever. If in the case of a bone fracture the effect is visible immediately (the person’s cast was removed not after 2 months, but after 3 weeks), then there is no such obvious result, but the patient feels better.
Cellular technologies like any medical method, has its limitations. In addition, many factors become arguments for or against its use - age, concomitant pathologies, nature of the disease, etc. And illusions often cause as much harm as despair.
How much does stem cell treatment cost?
On this moment the cost of stem cell treatment in Russia ranges from 250 – 300 thousand rubles.
Such a high price is justified, because growing stem cells is a high-tech process and, accordingly, very expensive. Clinics offering stem cells at a lower price have nothing to do with cell biology; they administer completely unknown drugs to their clients.
Most medical centers inject 100 million cells per course for this price, but there are also those that inject 100 million stem cells per procedure for this price. The number of stem cells per procedure, as well as the number of procedures, is discussed with the doctor, since the older a person is, the more stem cells he needs. If about 20-30 million cells are enough for a young blooming girl to maintain her tone, then 200 million may not be enough for an ailing lady of retirement age.
Typically, this amount does not include the cost of stem cell procedures, such as fat harvesting. Clinics and institutes that practice treatment with allogeneic (that is, foreign) stem cells claim that treatment with such stem cells will cost 10 percent less than with their own. If stem cells are introduced surgically, that is, an operation is performed, you will have to pay separately for the operation.
Mesotherapy with stem cells will cost much less. The cost of one mesotherapy procedure in a Moscow clinic is from 18,000 to 30,000 rubles. In total, from 5 to 10 mesotherapy procedures are performed per course.
What is cellular rejuvenation? Nowadays it is fashionable to be beautiful, slim, and radiate health. Just a few years ago, many people gave themselves Botox injections, today a new trend in fashion is stem cells.
Detailed description
The most basic cells of the human body are stem cells. They are formed immediately after conception in a fertilized egg. The ability to become any cell is their main distinguishing quality, the so-called pluripotency. As the embryo grows, the stem cells form its brain, liver, stomach, and heart. Even after birth, there are still a lot of them in the child’s body, but every year there are fewer of them; by the age of 20, a person has practically no stem cells. This is a scientifically proven fact. But an adult also needs these cells - they always replace those affected in the event of illness of any organ. Throughout life, organs with diseases become much more numerous, but stem cells decrease, so a person ages.
A little history
A breakthrough in cell biology occurred in 1998, when US scientists were able to isolate and clone embryonic stem cell lines. After which cell biology began to develop in two ways:
1. Research for the treatment of serious diseases.
2. In clinical practice, the procedure is “revitalization,” i.e., rejuvenation of the body by injections with stem cells in an integrated approach with other cosmetics.
How does stem cell rejuvenation occur?
Stem cells in beauty salons
In Russia there are no restrictions on the use of embryonic stem cells, so cell therapy is available everywhere. Any beauty salon mentions stem cells in its price list. But in practice, these are injections of extracts from embryonic tissue, and they can cause allergic reactions and even rejection. And if the procedure is not carried out in a laboratory, then there is a risk that the cellular material may be infected.
The body after using the stem cell injection procedure
In Russia new technology Stem cell injections are actively being tested on humans, but in the West almost all experiments are carried out on animals. Stem cells are being used more and more often, but what the effect will be in the future is not yet known. None of the scientists could give a forecast for 10-20 years in advance, because the area of application has not been fully studied. For now, stem cell treatment is considered alternative medicine. We'll see what happens next.
Where do stem cells come from for rejuvenation?
Currently, Russian cosmetic centers use several types of stem cells:
1. Embryonic stem cells. They are obtained from the liver, pancreas, and brain of aborted human fetuses, and then cultivated in a material similar in composition to blood serum. After checking for viruses, all obtained biomaterial is stored in liquid nitrogen.
2. Newborn umbilical cord cells, human bone marrow. Umbilical cord cell therapy is especially effective between members of the same family. In Russia there is a stem cell bank that can store cord blood. A bone marrow aspiration is taken from the iliac bones of an adult's pelvis, after which a multimillion-dollar colony is grown in the laboratory.
3. Stem cells isolated from adipose tissue.
Delayed reaction
Stem cell rejuvenation is very popular.
Depending on the chosen method, the effect of injections with cellular material begins to appear only after 1-3 months. And for some reason doctors don’t talk about the visual effects of rejuvenation; they focus on improving the well-being of patients. A person simply pays money, gets an injection, and waits for changes within three months. In practice, the patient does not see any special changes in the body or face, but feels that the body behaves differently: the hair darkens, visual acuity appears, and one gets enough sleep within 5-6 hours.
Some patients noted that within a month they began to read without glasses, the general fatigue of the body disappeared, and wrinkles began to disappear. But those who talked about such changes within a month usually underwent a comprehensive rejuvenation procedure, which included mesotherapy with skin-smoothing injections. In all cases, the patients completely trusted the clinic and doctors and did not think about the consequences in the future. How much does stem cell treatment cost?
The price of youth
All researchers agreed that the effect of cell injections lasts a year; after this period, it is better to repeat the procedure. As they say, if you turn to specialists for a cell injection every 1.5 years, then a person can at least live to be 150 years old. To be fair, it should be said that rejuvenation with stem cells is a very expensive procedure, and doing it once every 1.5 years is very expensive. It costs a minimum of 17 thousand euros, and this is if the patient is young, healthy and just wants to slow down the aging process a little. The older a person is and the more diseases he has, the more expensive cell therapy will be, due to the fact that he will need a larger number of stem cells.
How does it depend on age?
If a young body needs approximately 20-35 million cells to maintain tone, then 200 million may not be enough for a lady of pre-retirement age with a bunch of diseases. According to experts, such a high price is justified, because growing cells is a process that requires knowledge and high technology, and is therefore very expensive. If you are offered such procedures at a lower price, then most likely these drugs are not related to stem cells.
There are, however, state scientific institutes where injections are cheaper, but the price still starts from 5 thousand US dollars. They use bone marrow stem cells. Scientific institutes also use special cell growth factors - peptides. Since stem cells, when injected, cannot find a damaged organ, proteins show them the way, which turn on the work of the body’s cell, forcing it to work and look for means of self-healing.
results
Those patients who underwent stem cell rejuvenation courses at research institutes noted that after just three weeks, fatigue disappeared, body tone increased, visual acuity appeared, wrinkles smoothed out a little, men experienced increased libido and improved potency. As you can see, the results of body revitalization therapy in cosmetic clinics and research institutes are the same, although their methods are completely different.
Research institutes use a special cell growth factor protein, and beauty salons use additional mesotherapy. All these additional injections and procedures that come along with stem cell injections, according to doctors, are aimed at protecting clinics from the lack of results of stem cell treatment, since mesotherapy and additional protein have long been known as an excellent and effective way to smooth out wrinkles.
Cell therapy specialists are silent about whether there were negative results or no result at all. And there are such cases, patients did not notice any changes even after 3-6 months, but neither the clinic nor the research institute reimburses the costs in any way, because they do not guarantee that the body will find the strength to recover.
Cellular technologies. Their development in modern medicine
Despite the fact that there is positive results, doctors and the scientific community are extremely skeptical about such therapy. Many believe that, yes, the discovery of stem cells and the possibility of growing them is the largest discovery in genetics since the deciphering of the structure of DNA, but it should not be used for everyone, but only for the treatment of very serious diseases. Stem cells contain encrypted information about the entire body, which means that from them it is possible to grow not only a colony of cells, but even some kind of organ.
Therefore, it is unacceptable to use this technology for profit, since it has not been fully studied, clinical studies and experiments are being conducted. Currently, except cosmetic procedures, medical clinics also offer treatment for serious diseases with stem cell injections. The price lists say that diabetes and cancer can be cured with injections. But there is no confirmed data on such recoveries. On the contrary, there are expert opinions that stem cell rejuvenation causes cancer.
Positive effect
Stem cells are of great help in the treatment of ischemic diseases, hormonal and immune diseases, and some developmental disorders in children. At the end of 2015, American scientists saved the life of a young man who suffered a myocardial infarction. They took his own mesenchymal stem cells and introduced them into the body. There are positive results of cell therapy in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, arthritis, arthrosis, and rheumatism. Of course, given such scientific advances, stem cell injections simply for rejuvenation look lackluster.
What is even more depressing is that the budget does not provide for funding for the development of cell biology and the development of methods for treating serious diseases in leading research institutes and laboratories in Russia. Private clinics do not engage in development; they, as a rule, work for the purpose of making a profit. Therefore, in Russia, cellular technologies are associated only with rejuvenation, in contrast to the West, where research into cellular technologies in the treatment of serious diseases is actively funded.
Clinics providing stem cell transplantation services
There are not many such centers in Russia, but the main ones are the Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, or rather their clinical immunology laboratory, headed by Gennady Sukhikh, the Commercial Stem Cell Institute, also the Pyramid group of clinics, headed by Alexander Teplyashin.
Stem cells along with injections of peptides (growth factors) are practiced by the Institute of Biological Medicine. They, according to the experts of this institute, activate the action of stem cells.
"Korchak" - a clinic of cosmetology and plastic surgery - also has stem cell therapy as one of its areas. Here, cell material from a 3-month pig embryo grown on a nutrient medium is used. 3 days before administration, cultivation is stopped. Thanks to the “living” material, the effect of rejuvenation and healing is achieved in a couple of months and lasts for 1-2 years.
Placenta injections at the Japanese clinic Rhana are also called cell therapy, although this is completely different. They believe that the placenta is capable of rejuvenating the body, but it has a narrow range of action: relieving chronic fatigue syndrome and increasing libido and sexual activity.
Versage is also a clinic that uses stem cells in its work. But she specializes in anti-aging programs that include holistic treatments.
In Russia, cell therapy is actively used at the Novosibirsk Research Institute of Clinical Immunology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Also, for the treatment of heart diseases and cardioplasty in Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Tomsk and Novosibirsk, treatment and restorative procedures with human stem cells are used. Their use in rejuvenation and cosmetic procedures has become widespread in clinics in St. Petersburg.
Serious choice of clinic
In Russia, many clinics currently offer anti-aging procedures using stem cells. But we need to understand whether these are really the same cells. Often, simply cellular material is used. Therefore, before deciding on a procedure, you need to collect more information about the clinic, its specialization, does it have a laboratory, if not, which one do they cooperate with, how effectively do they work, try to find patients of the clinic who have already received these procedures .
Next, in the clinic itself, ask to be provided with a “Cell Passport” certifying that the stem cells are free of viruses. Before the cells are administered, you must be asked to undergo an examination. Even if the procedure is successful, you will be able to see the effect only after 1-3 months and not on the face or body, but in the general condition of the body. You will feel cheerfulness and a surge of strength. But this may not happen, because usually clinics do not take any responsibility for the consequences of stem cell rejuvenation. Neither the clinic nor the research institute provides guarantees.
- 1908: The term “stem cell” (Stammzelle) was proposed for widespread use by Russian histologist Alexander Maximov (1874-1928). He described and proved hematopoietic stem cells using the methods of his time, and it was for them that the term was introduced.
- 1960s: Joseph Altman and Gopal D. Das () presented scientific evidence of adult neurogenesis, the constant activity of brain stem cells. Their findings contradicted Ramón y Cajal's dogma that nerve cells are not born in the adult body, and were not widely publicized.
- 1963: Ernest McCulloch and James Till demonstrated the presence of self-renewing cells in mouse bone marrow.
- 1968: the possibility of restoring hematopoiesis in the recipient after bone marrow transplantation was proven. Bone marrow transplantation in an eight-year-old boy results in recovery from a severe form of immunodeficiency. The donor was a sister with a compatible set of leukocyte antigens (HLA).
- 1970: Alexander Yakovlevich Friedenstein isolated from bone marrow guinea pigs, successfully cultivated and described fibroblast-like cells, which were subsequently named Multipotent Mesenchymal Stromal Cells.
- 1978: Hematopoietic stem cells are discovered in umbilical cord blood.
- 1981: Mouse embryonic cells are obtained from the embryoblast (the inner cell mass of the blastocyst) by scientists Martin Evans, Matthew Kaufman and, independently, Gail R. Martin. Gail Martin is credited with coining the term embryonic stem cell.
- 1988: Eliane Gluckman performed the first successful cord blood HSC transplantation in a patient with Fanconi anemia. E. Gluckman has proven that the use of cord blood is effective and safe. Since then, cord blood has been widely used in transplantology.
- 1992: neural stem cells obtained in vitro. Protocols for their cultivation in the form of neurospheres have been developed.
- 1992: first personalized stem cell collection. Professor David Harris froze the umbilical cord blood stem cells of his first child. Today, David Harris is the director of the world's largest umbilical cord blood stem cell bank.
- 1987-1997: For 10 years at 45 medical centers 143 cord blood transplants have been performed worldwide.
- 1997: The first operation on an oncology patient to transplant umbilical cord blood stem cells was performed in Russia.
- 1998: James Thomson and his collaborators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison developed the first line of human ESCs.
- 1998: The world's first autologous cord blood stem cell transplant into a girl with neuroblastoma (brain tumor). The total number of cord blood transplantations performed this year exceeds 600.
- 1999: magazine Science recognized the discovery of embryonic stem cells as the third most significant event in biology after deciphering the double helix of DNA and the Human Genome Project.
- 2000: a number of articles were published on the plasticity of stem cells of a mature organism, that is, their ability to differentiate into the cellular components of various tissues and organs.
- 2003: The Journal of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS USA) published a report that after 15 years of storage in liquid nitrogen, umbilical cord blood stem cells fully retain their biological properties. From this point on, cryogenic storage of stem cells began to be viewed as “biological insurance.” The world's collection of stem cells stored in banks has reached 72,000 samples. As of September 2003, 2,592 umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants have already been performed in the world, 1,012 of them to adult patients.
- During the period from 1996 to 2004, 392 autologous (own) stem cell transplants were performed.
- 2005: Scientists at the University of California, Irvine, injected human neural stem cells into rats with traumatic spinal cord injury and were able to partially restore the rats' ability to move.
- 2005: the list of diseases for which stem cell transplantation has been successfully used reaches several dozen. The main focus is on the treatment of malignant neoplasms, various forms leukemia and other blood diseases. There are reports of successful stem cell transplantation for diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Various research centers are conducting research on the use of stem cells in the treatment of myocardial infarction and heart failure. Developed international protocols treatment of multiple sclerosis. Approaches to the treatment of stroke, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases are being sought.
- August 2006: The journal Cell publishes a study by Kazutoshi Takahashi and Shinya Yamanaka on a way to return differentiated cells to a pluripotent state. The era of induced pluripotent stem cells begins.
- January 2007: Researchers from Wake Forest University (North Carolina, USA), led by Dr. Anthony Atala from Harvard, reported the discovery of a new type of stem cells found in amniotic fluid (amniotic fluid). They may be a potential replacement for ESCs in research and therapy.
- June 2007: Three independent research groups reported that mature mouse skin cells can be reprogrammed into ESCs. In the same month, scientist Shukhrat Mitalipov announced the creation of a primate stem cell line through therapeutic cloning.
- November 2007: in the magazine Cell published a study by Katsutoshi Takagashi and Shinya Yamanaka, “Induction of pluripotent stem cells from mature human fibroblasts under certain factors,” and in the journal Science The article “Induced pluripotent stem cells derived from human somatic cells” by Juning Yu, co-authored with other scientists from James Thomson’s research group, was published. It has been proven that it is possible to induce almost any mature human cell and give it stem properties, as a result of which there is no need to destroy embryos in the laboratory, although the risks of carcinogenesis in connection with the Myc gene and retroviral gene transfer remain to be determined.
- January 2008: Robert Lanza and his colleagues from Advanced Cell Technology and the University of California, San Francisco, produced the first human ESCs without destroying the embryo.
- January 2008: Cloned human blastocysts are cultured through therapeutic cloning.
- February 2008: pluripotent stem cells derived from mouse liver and stomach, these induced cells are closer to embryonic than previously derived induced stem cells and they are not carcinogenic. In addition, the genes required to induce pluripotent cells do not need to be placed in a specific region, which facilitates the development of non-viral cell reprogramming technologies.
- March 2008: a study by doctors from the Regenerative Sciences Institute was published for the first time on the successful regeneration of cartilage in the human knee joint using autologous mature MSCs.
- October 2008: Zabine Konrad and her colleagues from Tübingen (Germany) derived pluripotent stem cells from spermatogonial cells of a mature human testicle by culturing in vitro with the addition of FIL (leukemia inhibition factor).
- October 30, 2008: Embryonic stem cells derived from human hair.
- March 1, 2009: Andreas Nagy, Keisuke Kaji and their colleagues discovered a way to develop embryonic stem cells from normal mature cells using an innovative "wrap" technology to deliver specific genes into cells for reprogramming without the risks of using viruses. Genes are placed into cells using electroporation.
- May 28, 2009: Kim Gwangsu and his colleagues at Harvard announced that they had developed a way to manipulate skin cells to produce induced pluripotent stem cells in a patient-specific manner, claiming that it " final decision stem cell problems."
- 2011: Israeli scientist Inbar Friedrich Ben-Nun led a team of scientists that developed the first stem cells from endangered animal species. This is a breakthrough and thanks to it we can save species that are in danger of extinction.
- 2012: Giving patients stem cells taken from their own bone marrow three to seven days after a heart attack is a safe but ineffective treatment, according to a clinical trial supported by the US National Institutes of Health. However, studies conducted by German specialists in the Department of Cardiology in Hamburg showed positive results in the treatment of heart failure, but not myocardial infarction.
Properties
All stem cells have two essential properties:
- Self-renewal, that is, the ability to maintain an unchanged phenotype after division (without differentiation).
- Potency (differentiation potential), or the ability to produce offspring in the form of specialized cell types.
Self-updating
There are two mechanisms that maintain the stem cell population in the body:
- Asymmetric division, which produces the same pair of cells (one stem cell and one differentiated cell).
- Stochastic division: one stem cell divides into two more specialized ones.
Differentiating potential
Differentiation potential, or potency, of stem cells is the ability to produce a certain amount different types cells. According to potency, stem cells are divided into the following groups:
- Totipotent (omnipotent) stem cells can differentiate into cells of embryonic and extraembryonic tissues, organized in three dimensions related structures(tissues, organs, organ systems, body). Such cells can give rise to a full-fledged viable organism. These include a fertilized egg, or zygote. Cells formed during the first few division cycles of the zygote are also totipotent in most species. However, these do not include, for example, roundworms, the zygote of which loses totipotency during the first division. In some organisms, differentiated cells can also acquire totipotency. Thus, the cut part of a plant can be used to grow a new organism precisely due to this property.
- Pluripotent stem cells are descendants of totipotent stem cells and can give rise to almost all tissues and organs, with the exception of extraembryonic tissues (for example, the placenta). From these stem cells, three germ layers develop: ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm.
- Multipotent stem cells give rise to cells of different tissues, but the diversity of their types is limited within a single germ layer.
- Oligopotent cells can differentiate only into certain cell types with similar properties. These, for example, include cells of the lymphoid and myeloid series, involved in the process of hematopoiesis.
- Unipotent cells (precursor cells, blast cells) are immature cells that, strictly speaking, are no longer stem cells, since they can produce only one type of cell. They are capable of repeated self-reproduction, which makes them a long-term source of cells of one specific type and distinguishes them from non-stem cells. However, their ability to reproduce themselves is limited to a certain number of divisions, which also distinguishes them from true stem cells. Progenitor cells include, for example, some of the myosatellite cells involved in the formation of skeletal and muscle tissue.
Classification
Stem cells can be divided into three main groups depending on the source of their production: embryonic, fetal and postnatal (adult stem cells).
Embryonic stem cells
Clinical studies using ESCs are subject to special ethical review. In many countries, ESC research is restricted by law.
One of the main disadvantages of ESCs is the impossibility of using autogenous, that is, one’s own material, for transplantation, since isolating ESCs from the embryo is incompatible with its further development.
Fetal stem cells
Postnatal stem cells
Despite the fact that stem cells from a mature organism have less potency compared to embryonic and fetal stem cells, that is, they can generate fewer different types of cells, the ethical aspect of their research and use does not cause serious controversy. In addition, the possibility of using autogenous material ensures the effectiveness and safety of treatment. Adult stem cells can be divided into three main groups: hematopoietic (hematopoietic), multipotent mesenchymal (stromal) and tissue-specific progenitor cells. Sometimes umbilical cord blood cells are classified into a separate group because they are the least differentiated of all the cells of a mature organism, that is, they have the greatest potency. Umbilical cord blood mainly contains hematopoietic stem cells, as well as multipotent mesenchymal ones, but it also contains other unique varieties of stem cells that, under certain conditions, are capable of differentiating into cells of various organs and tissues.
Hematopoietic stem cells
Before the use of umbilical cord blood, bone marrow was considered the main source of HSCs. This source is still widely used in transplantology today. HSCs are located in the bone marrow in adults, including the femurs, ribs, sternum, and other bones. Cells can be obtained directly from the thigh using a needle and syringe, or from blood after pre-treatment cytokines, including G-CSF (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor), which promotes the release of cells from the bone marrow.
The second, most important and promising source of HSC is umbilical cord blood. The concentration of HSCs in cord blood is ten times higher than in bone marrow. In addition, this source has a number of advantages. The most important of them:
- Age. Umbilical cord blood is collected at the earliest stage of the body's life. Umbilical cord blood HSCs are maximally active because they have not been subjected to negative impact external environment (infectious diseases, unhealthy diet, etc.). Umbilical cord blood HSCs are capable of creating a large cell population in a short period of time.
- Compatibility. The use of autologous material, that is, one’s own cord blood, guarantees 100% compatibility. Compatibility with brothers and sisters is up to 25%; as a rule, it is also possible to use the child’s umbilical cord blood to treat other close relatives. For comparison, the probability of finding a suitable stem cell donor is from 1:1000 to 1:1000,000.
Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells
Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MMSCs) are multipotent stem cells capable of differentiating into osteoblasts (bone cells), chondrocytes (cartilage cells) and adipocytes (fat cells).
Characteristics of embryonic stem cells
Stem cells and cancer
Use in medicine
In Russia
By order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 23, 2009 No. 2063-, the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia and the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia were instructed by the end of 2010 to develop and submit for consideration to the State Duma of the Russian Federation a draft law “On the use of biomedical technologies in medical practice”, regulating medical use stem cells as one of the biomedical technologies. Since the bill caused outrage among the public and scientists, it was sent for revision and has not yet been adopted.
July 1, 2010 Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare and social development issued the first permit for the use of new medical technology FS No. 2010/255 (treatment with one’s own stem cells).
On February 3, 2011, the Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare and Social Development issued permission for the use of new medical technology FS No. 2011/002 (treatment with donor stem cells of the following pathologies: age-related changes in facial skin of the second or third degree, the presence of a wound skin defect, trophic ulcer , treatment of alopecia, atrophic skin lesions, including atrophic stripes (striae), burns, diabetic foot)
In Ukraine
Today, clinical trials are allowed in Ukraine (Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 630 “On conducting clinical trials of stem cells”, 2007.
