World’s first trial of stem cell therapy in the womb

After years and years of research and massive speculation, the clinical trials for injecting stem cells in the blood stream of the foetus during the gestation periods have begun.

The experimental trial, will be led by Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital and will start in the New Year. Sourcing these from terminated pregnancies, the scientists hope that the developing fetuses receiving the injections will incorporate these cells. Officially called osteogenesis imperfecta, brittle bone disease affects around one in every 25,000 births.

These errors can mean that the collagen inside the body, which gives bones strength and structure, is either of poor quality or missing altogether.

By injecting these children with stem cells, which can transform themselves to grow into different kinds of tissue, proper bone growth can be sparked and the negative effects of the disease can be lessened significantly.

Prof Lyn Chitty said on a news website, “This is a very serious disease”.

In the trials, 15 babies will be treated with stem cells while in the womb, and again after they are born. The stem cells would be directly inserted in the baby while it is still in the mother’s womb and developing. By comparing the number of fractures in each group, they should be able to determine whether the earlier treatment is more beneficial.

“If we could reduce the fracture frequency, strengthen bones and improve growth, it would have a huge impact”, Cecilia Gotherstrom, of the Karolinska Institute, told the BBC.

Previous stem cell therapies have shown to reduce symptoms in children. Her team’s study will be the first to try the stem cell treatment in the womb.

“It is the first trial and, if successful, it will pave the way for other pre-natal treatments when parents have no other option”, Gotherstrom said.