Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
British scientists move closer to womb transplant
Doctors say the first successful womb transplant may be performed within two years. Research on rabbits has shown that it is possible to transplant a uterus and provide a reliable blood supply so that the organ lasts long enough to enable a pregnancy.
The research, led by Richard Smith, a consultant gynaecological surgeon at Hammersmith Hospital in London, UK, and involving teams in New York and Budapest, was presented this week at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) annual conference in Atlanta. Surgery performed on rabbits at the Royal Veterinary College in London led to five rabbits receiving a successful womb transplant which included connecting major blood vessels and the aorta but they did not achieve pregnancy naturally. Two of the rabbits lived to ten months and post-mortem examinations proved the transplants to be a success.
It is reported that around 15,000 women of childbearing age are without a womb in the UK. Some of whom are born without one or have been required to have it removed because of cancer. For these women the only option at present to have children is either through adoption or surrogacy. It is estimated that up to 200 women use surrogate mothers every year. If womb transplants can in the future be successfully applied to humans then this would provide women with a viable alternative.
A human womb transplant has already been performed in Saudi Arabia on a 26 year old woman in 2000 but failed after the organ, taken from a live donor, was rejected and needed to be removed after three months. Smith thinks that the organ was rejected because of difficulties in ensuring adequate blood supply which resulted in a clot developing. The difficulty is that the womb needs to be functioning in the woman for the duration of a pregnancy, during which the recipient would be required to take immuno-suppressant drugs to reduce the risk of rejection. The womb would then be removed.
'I think there are certain technical issues to be ironed out but I think the crux of how to carry out a successful graft that's properly vascularised - I think we have cracked that one,' Smith told the conference. The technology still needs to be translated into a safe and effective method to be used in humans, and the team are yet to attempt to create a successful pregnancy in rabbits through IVF.
Tony Rutherford, chairman of the British Fertility Society, commented, 'I think there is a big difference between demonstrating effectiveness in a rabbit and being able to do this in a larger animal or a human...'. There are also ethical issues which will need to be addressed. Clare Lewis-Jones, from Infertility Network UK, said 'a great deal of thought and discussion' was needed before the research was applied to humans.
The team plans to use the technique on larger animals but the project is running out of money after research grants were rejected. To continue the research, a charity called the Uterine Transplant UK will be set up to help obtain the necessary funding of £250,000. The Times newspaper reports that surgeons in New York have already been given the go ahead to perform a human trial after demonstrating a uterus can be preserved long enough for surgery to be carried out.
The research, led by Richard Smith, a consultant gynaecological surgeon at Hammersmith Hospital in London, UK, and involving teams in New York and Budapest, was presented this week at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) annual conference in Atlanta. Surgery performed on rabbits at the Royal Veterinary College in London led to five rabbits receiving a successful womb transplant which included connecting major blood vessels and the aorta but they did not achieve pregnancy naturally. Two of the rabbits lived to ten months and post-mortem examinations proved the transplants to be a success.
It is reported that around 15,000 women of childbearing age are without a womb in the UK. Some of whom are born without one or have been required to have it removed because of cancer. For these women the only option at present to have children is either through adoption or surrogacy. It is estimated that up to 200 women use surrogate mothers every year. If womb transplants can in the future be successfully applied to humans then this would provide women with a viable alternative.
A human womb transplant has already been performed in Saudi Arabia on a 26 year old woman in 2000 but failed after the organ, taken from a live donor, was rejected and needed to be removed after three months. Smith thinks that the organ was rejected because of difficulties in ensuring adequate blood supply which resulted in a clot developing. The difficulty is that the womb needs to be functioning in the woman for the duration of a pregnancy, during which the recipient would be required to take immuno-suppressant drugs to reduce the risk of rejection. The womb would then be removed.
'I think there are certain technical issues to be ironed out but I think the crux of how to carry out a successful graft that's properly vascularised - I think we have cracked that one,' Smith told the conference. The technology still needs to be translated into a safe and effective method to be used in humans, and the team are yet to attempt to create a successful pregnancy in rabbits through IVF.
Tony Rutherford, chairman of the British Fertility Society, commented, 'I think there is a big difference between demonstrating effectiveness in a rabbit and being able to do this in a larger animal or a human...'. There are also ethical issues which will need to be addressed. Clare Lewis-Jones, from Infertility Network UK, said 'a great deal of thought and discussion' was needed before the research was applied to humans.
The team plans to use the technique on larger animals but the project is running out of money after research grants were rejected. To continue the research, a charity called the Uterine Transplant UK will be set up to help obtain the necessary funding of £250,000. The Times newspaper reports that surgeons in New York have already been given the go ahead to perform a human trial after demonstrating a uterus can be preserved long enough for surgery to be carried out.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Stem cell hope for healing premature babies' lungs
Stem cells could be used in the future to repair the lungs of premature babies, according to the lead researcher on a study on newborn rats. Dr Bernard Thébaud from the University of Alberta, Canada, and his team studied the lungs of newborn rats given oxygen to simulate premature birth before being treated with bone marrow-derived stem cells. They showed for the first time that the stem cells repaired the rats' lungs and prevented further damage.
Two weeks after the newborn rats had the stem cells injected into their airways, they could run twice as far and had better survival rates than their untreated peers, according to the research team, whose paper was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
'The really exciting thing that we discovered was that stem cells are like little factories, pumping out healing factors,' says Dr Thébaud, who divides his time between the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and at the Stollery Children's Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Edmonton, Canada. He added: 'That healing liquid seems to boost the power of the healthy lung cells and helps them to repair the lungs'.
Baby rat lungs are similar to those of a 24-week premature human baby. Many premature babies have underdeveloped lungs and around half of babies born before 28 weeks develop chronic lung disease, according to a report in the Canadian Broadcasting Centre.
'The dilemma we face with these tiny babies is a serious one. When they are born too early, they simply cannot breathe on their own. To save the babies' lives, we put them on a ventilator and give them oxygen, leaving many of them with chronic lung disease,' said Dr Thébaud, adding: 'Before the next decade is out I want to put a stop to this devastating disease'.
The team is studying whether using stem cells as a lung therapy poses a risk of cancer. They are examining rats' lungs and organs three months and six months after treatment. The scientists are also examining whether human cord blood is a better lung disease treatment than bone marrow stem cells. 'We are also studying closely the healing liquid produced by the stem cells', explained Dr Thébaud. 'If that liquid can be used on its own to grow and repair the lungs, that might make the injection of stem cells unnecessary', he added.
The research has been welcomed by others in the field. 'I want to congratulate Dr. Thébaud and his team. This research offers real hope for a new treatment for babies with chronic lung disease', said Dr Roberta Ballard, Professor of Pediatrics at University of California, US. 'In a few short years, I anticipate we will be able to take these findings and begin clinical trials with premature babies', she explained.
Two weeks after the newborn rats had the stem cells injected into their airways, they could run twice as far and had better survival rates than their untreated peers, according to the research team, whose paper was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
'The really exciting thing that we discovered was that stem cells are like little factories, pumping out healing factors,' says Dr Thébaud, who divides his time between the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and at the Stollery Children's Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Edmonton, Canada. He added: 'That healing liquid seems to boost the power of the healthy lung cells and helps them to repair the lungs'.
Baby rat lungs are similar to those of a 24-week premature human baby. Many premature babies have underdeveloped lungs and around half of babies born before 28 weeks develop chronic lung disease, according to a report in the Canadian Broadcasting Centre.
'The dilemma we face with these tiny babies is a serious one. When they are born too early, they simply cannot breathe on their own. To save the babies' lives, we put them on a ventilator and give them oxygen, leaving many of them with chronic lung disease,' said Dr Thébaud, adding: 'Before the next decade is out I want to put a stop to this devastating disease'.
The team is studying whether using stem cells as a lung therapy poses a risk of cancer. They are examining rats' lungs and organs three months and six months after treatment. The scientists are also examining whether human cord blood is a better lung disease treatment than bone marrow stem cells. 'We are also studying closely the healing liquid produced by the stem cells', explained Dr Thébaud. 'If that liquid can be used on its own to grow and repair the lungs, that might make the injection of stem cells unnecessary', he added.
The research has been welcomed by others in the field. 'I want to congratulate Dr. Thébaud and his team. This research offers real hope for a new treatment for babies with chronic lung disease', said Dr Roberta Ballard, Professor of Pediatrics at University of California, US. 'In a few short years, I anticipate we will be able to take these findings and begin clinical trials with premature babies', she explained.
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