Stem Cell Transplants Cure Incontinence

Stem cell transplantation can end incontinence caused by age or surgery, according to new research.

Scientists at the University of Innsbruck (Austria) took adult stem cells from a muscle biopsy, isolated myoblasts and fibroblasts from the biopsy material, and grew them in culture. When there were enough cells, the autologous fibroblasts were injected into the wall of critical sphincter muscles around the urethra to create scaffolding for the myoblasts that were also injected into the area.

The cells then performed their muscular tasks, giving new strength to the sphincters. The sphincter walls contracted better and the thickness of the urethra increased, as did the thickness of the rhambdosphincter. Incontinence scores and quality of life were improved. The procedure was performed in186 people, 123 of them women. Of that group, 156 were cured of incontinence. The results were reported at the American Urological Association (AUA) annual meeting in May 2006 in Atlanta (GA, USA).

"There have been more than a hundred proposed treatments for incontinence in these individuals,” said Hannes Strasser, M.D, "but all of them have limitations. The use of a person's own adult stem cells appears to overcome ethical issues regarding embryonic cells and, more importantly, they seem to work.”

Stem cell therapy is a part of a group of new techniques or technologies that rely on replacing diseased or dysfunctional cells with healthy, functioning ones. These new techniques are being applied experimentally to a wide range of human disorders, including many types of cancer, neurologic diseases such as Parkinson's disease and ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), spinal cord injuries, and diabetes.



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University of Innsbruck