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RESEARch nEwS
Stem cells: Making disease a thing of the past
Dr. Bernard Thébaud (Photo Credit: The Ottawa Hospital)
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Stem cells and regenerative medicine have become an exceedingly hot topic in recent years, pushing our knowledge and capabilities of medicine further and farther. It is an exciting area of medicine due to the cells’ ability to regenerate and repair tissue. They are truly quite remarkable, and the work that is being done with them at The Ottawa Hospital is a testament to that.
Dr. Bernard Thébaud, a scientist and neonatologist from The Ottawa Hospital, is focused on understanding the mechanisms of lung development, injury and repair to design treatments for incurable lung diseases. His lab has an emphasis on the therapeutic potential of stem cells for treating lung diseases in babies.
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia is a lung disease that typically happens to preterm babies that are born at least 12 weeks early. Their lungs have not fully developed so they are intubated and mechanically ventilated to stay alive, but these life-saving techniques also damage their lungs.
These issues can extend far past childhood and have lifelong consequences. Therefore, it is an extremely critical issue to tackle. So far in Thébaud’s lab, these mesenchymal stromal cells appear to protect or prevent injury in mice and rat models and efforts to translate this therapy into patients are underway.
Around the age of 40, a person’s lung without disease begins to age, but a person with lung disease will experience an earlier onset of aging. Premature babies with interrupted lung growth may be more prone to an early onset of aging while already experiencing a higher risk of asthma. The researchers are attempting to fine tune the use of stem cells to help heal and prevent any lung injury in the short or long-term. The hope is that mainstay treatments will reach such a level that only the tiniest of babies will need to benefit from stem cell therapy.
Hopefully, this research will continue to clinical trials, but Thébaud stresses the importance of designing these with care because this is all still experimental and no one would want to injure a small child.
Stem cells are a fascinating field, and as modern medicine continues to expand at an exponential rate they have the potential to ascertain that various diseases become a thing of the past and allow society to live longer, more fruitful lives.
To see this story online visit https://biotechnologyfocus.ca/stemcells-making-disease-a-thing-of-the-past/
western University creates a therapy that “fits like a glove”
Researchers at Western University have developed custom-fit gloves to help control tremors in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Not only does this glove help give them some sense of normality again, but it gives them their independence back as well.
Parkinson’s disease is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that tends to affect the motor system the most. The disease progresses slowly over time, and is best exemplified through constant shaking and rigidity. Eventually leading to difficulty walking, swallowing problems and other health conditions. Symptoms may vary from patient to patient.
“If you have seen anybody with Parkinson’s that has tremors, they have them in their entire body, but it’s the ones in their fingers that really prevent them from performing the activities of daily living,” says Ana Luisa Trejos, professor of electrical and computer engineering professor at Western University, and lead investigator of the Wearable Biomechatronics Laboratory Group.
The problem with a lot of the devices that are currently on the market is that they restrict movement in general, which still makes the tasks at hand hard to do. In the worst-case scenario, it can even suppress movement at the level of the elbows or wrists that exacerbates the tremors in the fingers.
The design model of the glove uses a system of sensors that track voluntary movements and separates them from involuntary tremors. The gloves will then suppress the tremor to allow fluid motion of movement. The current prototype glove was created for the left hand of student Yue Zhou, who used 3D printing to design a custom fit.
The team is also working on improving the glove’s hardware to make it more practical to wear, including reducing the size of the glove’s controller and improving its battery system. Once these pieces are all in place, they hope to find commercial partners to bring the gloves to the market.
If effective, this could dramatically change the lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease, allowing them to do daily tasks many people take for granted.
To see this story online visit https://biotechnologyfocus.ca/westernuniversity-creates-a-therapy-that-fitslike-a-glove/
breathing life back in: asthma treatment that will change lives
There has been substantial research coming out of the woodworks from across the country in so many areas of health. But, when you are living with a disease and finally find that medication which makes you feel like yourself again, there is truly nothing like it.
This was the case for Jennifer Falkiner. She had been diagnosed with asthma in her thirties and that progressed over time to severe asthma. It is only now, participating in an innovative clinical trial for severe uncontrolled asthma with the use of Fasenra – a respiratory biologic – and the research of Dr. Mark Fitzgerald, primary researcher of the study, that her quality of life and her motivation has returned.
The CALIMA trial was one of three pivotal trials to reduce severe exacerbation requiring prednisone and has shown a 50 per cent reduction in patients who had the active treatment in lieu of the placebo. Fasenra is the only respiratory biologic that provides direct, rapid and near-complete depletion of blood eosinophils from the first dose.
Around the world, asthma affects 315 million people, including an estimated 3 million Canadians. Roughly 250,000 Canadians live with severe, uncontrolled asthma, which can have a debilitating impact on lung function and quality of life.
Many of the current medications also come with countless side effects, that may
deter the people who need the medication from taking it at all. Prednisone, for example, has been known to affect sleeping patterns, weight gain, severe depression, bloody or tarry stools, slow wound healing, dizziness – just to name a few. Fasenra, on the other hand, has had minute reported adverse reactions and is taken every eight weeks after the initial three doses.
Fasenra has been approved by Health Canada and represents a significant milestone for severe eosinophilic asthma patients, finally offering a new treatment option to help manage their condition.
The change for Jennifer has been dramatic. Going from a place where walking in the heat, scents, and the constant fear of the inability to breathe depicted what she could and could not do with her life, to now swim, skate, kayak, and play with her grandkids – she has never looked back.
To see this story online visit https://biotechnologyfocus.ca/breathing-life-back-in-asthma-treatment-thatwill-change-lives/
