Stem cell eye treatment gives victim of fight his sight back

[Guest guest]

Stem cell eye treatment gives victim of fight his sight back

Mark Henderson, Science Editor

_http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6965043.ece_

(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6965043.ece)

 

 

A man who was partially blinded after intervening in a fight has had his

vision restored by a new stem-cell therapy.

 

 

Russell Turnbull, 38, lost most of the sight from his right eye in 1994

when he was sprayed in the face with ammonia while trying to break up an

altercation on a bus in Newcastle upon Tyne. The chemical burnt his cornea,

leaving him with cloudy vision, pain on every blink and extreme sensitivity to

light.

 

 

He has now become one of the first people to benefit from a treatment

developed at the North East England Stem Cell Institute in Newcastle, in which

stem cells from his good eye were used to repair his damaged one.

 

 

All eight of the partially sighted patients taking part in the first trial

of the therapy have reported improved vision, reduced eye pain and a

better quality of life. If the success is repeated in a larger trial of 25

patients, started thanks to support from the Medical Research Council, the

procedure could be used to restore the sight of thousands of people with

diseased or damaged corneas.

 

 

The chemical burn to Mr Turnbull’s eye severely damaged its limbal stem

cells — a reservoir of specialised cells in the corner of the eye that

resupply the cornea to keep its outer surface transparent and smooth.

 

 

He developed limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD), in which the retina

becomes cloudy and develops a rough surface that causes pain when blinking and

sensitivity to light.

 

 

“It was like looking through scratched Perspex,†said Mr Turnbull, who is

from Consett, Co Durham.

 

 

“My eye was constantly watering. I was unable to drive as any bright light

would cause me pain. I had a lot of anger inside me for a long time after

the attack. I lost my job because of it and I had always been a keen

jet-skier, which I wasn’t able to do. It ruined my life.â€

 

 

A year and a half after receiving the treatment, Mr Turnbull is now

pain-free with dramatically improved vision.

 

 

“This has transformed my life, my eye is almost as good as it was before

the accident,†he said. “I’m working, I can go jet-skiing again, and I

also

ride horses. I have my life back thanks to the operation.â€

 

 

The trial, led by Francisco Figueiredo and Sajjad Ahmad, of the Royal

Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, involved eight patients whose sight in one eye

was severely impaired by LSCD. The condition is most commonly caused by

chemical burns but can also be a result of inherited disorders or infections

associated with contact lenses.

 

 

Scientists took limbal stem cells from the patients’ good eyes, then

multiplied them in the laboratory. The expanded cells were then spread on to a

human amniotic membrane — the tissue that holds the foetus in the womb —

which is commonly used as a template for bioengineering.

 

 

The patients’ damaged corneal tissue was surgically removed and replaced

with the stem-cell grafts.

 

 

An average of 19 months after the operations, all the patients reported

reduced pain and improved vision.

 

 

Because the replacement tissue came from the patients’ bodies, they needed

no drugs to suppress their immune systems and there was no risk of

rejection. Details of the research are published in the journal Stem Cells.

 

 

At present, the therapy is suitable only for patients with one undamaged

eye, which can be used as a source of stem cells for the repair, Dr Ahmad

said.

 

 

In the longer term, it may be possible to coax stem cells from other parts

of the body to become limbal stem cells, allowing treatment of patients

with bilateral damage. Dr Ahmad said: “This study shows that stem cell

research can have a major impact on the quality of life of patients with corneal

disease.â€

 

 

Corneal cloudiness is estimated to cause blindness in eight million people

— 10 per cent of total blindness — worldwide each year. Dr Figueiredo

said: “The stem cell treatment aims at total cure of LSCD rather than symptom

relief only. It will alleviate suffering and remove the need for long-term

multiple medications.â€