STEM cells taken from placentas have healing properties that can help people recover from having their hip joint replaced.
Placentas are normally thrown away after childbirth, but now Israeli company Pluristem has taken discarded placentas and developed a batch of mesenchymal stem cells from them. These cells have the potential to turn into different kinds of tissue and release chemicals that promote healing.
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To see how the cells affect muscle repair, Tobias Winkler of Charit茅 鈥� Berlin University of Medicine in Germany and his colleagues tested two different doses of the cells in 20 people having hip replacements. During the operation, surgeons have to cut into muscle tissue around the joint, which can leave people limping for several months, particularly if it isn鈥檛 their first hip replacement.
Six months after surgery, people who got a dose of cells had stronger hip muscles than those in the placebo group, as measured by an exercise machine (Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, ). All of the people in the experiment 鈥� even those in the placebo group 鈥� were limp-free by the time they were tested at six months, probably because everyone was having their first hip surgery, says Winkler.
The improvements seen in strength suggest that the cells would reduce limping in people having second or third joint replacements, where the muscle starts off in worse condition, says Winkler.
鈥淪ix months after the operation, people who got stem cell doses had stronger hip muscles鈥�
Dennis McGonagle at the University of Leeds, UK, says animal studies show that stem cells are often killed by the recipient鈥檚 immune system when they are injected into the body. But mesenchymal stem cells seem to release tiny packages of beneficial compounds before this happens. 鈥淭hey are full of growth factors and other goodies,鈥� he says.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淪tem cells from placentas could help fix muscles鈥�
