Rheumatoid Arthritis

Currently, RA is treated with immune suppressive agents such as steroids, methothrexate, cyclosporine, gold, and more recently infliximab (Remicade). Despite inducing temporary improvement, these approaches possess long-term adverse effects due to non-specific inhibition of immune responses. Additionally, current treatments do not address the issue of damage that has already occurred to the joints or extra-articular tissues.

Advancements in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment protocols and introduction of targeted biological therapies have markedly improved patient outcomes, despite this, up to 50% of patients still fail to achieve a significant clinical response.

Stem cell therapy has been demonstrated to induce profound healing activity in animals with various forms of arthritis. For example, the company Vet-Stem routinely utilizes stem cells in horses with various joint deformities to accelerate healing. Besides healing of damaged tissues, stem cells have the unique ability to modulate the immune system so as to shut off pathological responses while preserving ability to fight off disease. Stem cells and specifically, mesenchymal stem cells home to inflamed tissue and start producing anti-inflammatory agents. These mediators act locally and do not suppress the immune response of the patients whole body. Additionally, mesenchymal stem cells induce the production of T regulatory cells, a type of immune cell whose function is to protect the body against immunological self-attack.

The Stem Cell Institute uses adult stem cells called allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells to treat rheumatoid arthritis. These cells are harvested from human umbilical cords donated after normal, healthy births. All mothers who donate umbilical cords undergo infectious disease testing and medical history screening. Proper written consent is obtained from each family prior to umbilical cord donation.

All mesenchymal stem cells harvested from umbilical cords are screened for infectious diseases to International Blood Bank Standards before they are cleared for use in treatments.

Only about one in ten umbilical cords pass our rigorous screening process.

The bodys immune system is unable to recognize human umbilical cord tissue (HUCT)-derived mesenchmyal stem cells as foreign and therefore they are not rejected. HUCT stem cells have been administered thousands of times at the Stem Cell Institute and there has never been a single instance rejection (graft vs. host disease). Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells also proliferate/differentiate more efficiently than older cells, such as those found in the fat and therefore, they are considered to be more potent.

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Stem Cell Therapy || Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment ...

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