Live Cell Therapy:
Live cell therapy was developed in Switzerland by Dr. Niehans. Over 2400 years ago, Hippocrates had theorized that, for example, if you had liver problems, the answer would be found in the healthy liver of a young animal because the livers of both man and animals operate almost exactly the same way. His theory applied to all organs and glands of the body: heart, lung, thymus, adrenals, spleen, etc.
Over the centuries, doctors and scientists scoffed at Hippocrates' theory. In the 1930s, Dr. Niehans reported success in curing a variety of illnesses with injections of live cell extracts from healthy animal organs mirroring the diseased organ in the human.
In the 1960's, however, separate radioactive labelling studies at the University of Vienna and the University of Heidelberg, showed unquestionably, that the vital constituents of a calf's gland or organ, when injected into a human, went directly to that same gland or organ. It appeared that the live cells offered unique biochemicals specifically needed by the diseased gland or organ which were unattainable elsewhere!
Dr. Niehans felt that the constituents of the gland or organ had to be extracted before the gland or organ began to deteriorate. He had his own cattle ranch next to his Clinique La Prairie in Switzerland, and butchered the calf the same day he planned to use its gland or organ. So, the gland or organ was still warm or "live" when he processed it. Unfortunately, extracting the important substances was excruciatingly slow. That's why the costs to go to the Clinique were so high.
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More about Dr. Paul Niehans:
The following is an excerpt from the book, Feeling Younger Longer, by Cornel Lumiere, 1973:
....In his Introduction to Cellular Therapy, Neihans devotes a brief section to "The Fate of the Cells After Injection." His opening sentence declares bluntly: "Nothing certain can be said on this subject, as the practitioners of this system of treatment are still of different opinions" (19, p.35).
He presented the varying theories in a series of questions:
1. When it is a question of cells needed by our organism, do the cells injected into the muscles remain alive and do they make their way towards the organ of which they bear the name if that organ is impaired? In other words, do the cells in question really make their way to the impaired organ? 2. Or do the injected cells continue to live in the muscles at the site of injection, the blood vessels assuring the supply of oxygen at the same time as the elimination of excretions? In other words, is it possible that the cells remain alive at the site of the injection and act on the impaired organ from a distance? 3. Or are the injected cells, attacked by antibodies, broken down into their elements, and are these elements utilized by the organism to rehabilitate the impaired organ? That is to say, disintegration of the injected cell, then utilization of the material by the organism for the purpose of reconstruction (19, pp. 35-36).
Niehans insist[ed] ... strongly [on] the use of ... whole cells rather than isolated components. He says: "Cells contain nuclei, chromosomes, granular tissue, mitochondria, protoplasm and many other materials. Many efforts have been made of late years to isolate these active substances and to inject them--a useless task--for the results obtained by using the cell itself as a unity (that is, according to the classical method of cellular therapy) are infinitely superior" (19, pp. 37-38).
While I was at the Clinique La Prairie, I asked Dr. Michel why cells were used in preference to hormones, since cells were frequently taken from glands such as the thyroid, hypothalamus, parathyroid, adrenals, and the sex glands. He replied to the effect that, although some excellent results have been achieved with hormones in a variety of complaints or deficiencies, in his experience and that of Professor Niehans, hormones are only a substitute, where cells actually cause a continuous regeneration by nature.
Niehans puts the case against hormones more strongly: "As the organism does not store hormones but produces only the quantities corresponding to the needs of the moment, treatment by hormones is only a temporary form of treatment and does not lead to a cure. This is precisely what happens with insulin. To that then is added in course of time an atrophy caused by inactivity of the gland, its cellular functions being totally exhausted.
"Hormonal therapy also has its limits. How, for example, can we treat a lesion of the [pituitary] with hormones when the cells of the [pituitary] act in part cyclically, in part according to the needs of the moment, and when the gland, according to our present knowledge, possesses 24 different hormone13s? (19, p.15).
Whole cells work better than isolated components and hormones. (19, p.112)
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Lyophilisate Whole Cells:
Treatment can be done with lyophilisate whole cells from Cytobiopharmica of Germany. Dr. Gerhard Heinstein, from Lohr, Germany, has twenty years experience in the use of whole, live cells with children and adults.
Some physicians have expressed concern about potential antibody/antigen reactions to whole cell therapy. To date, no adverse antigen and antibody reactions to the use of lyophilisates has been reported.
The Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology was awarded to Dr.'s Peter Medawar and Macfarlane Burnett in 1960, for their work in transplantation immunity. They showed that lyophilized tissue will not provoke an immune reaction. They also showed that fetal cells are less antigenic than any other types of cells. These studies were performed transfering allogenic spleen cell suspensions and leukocytes, which in the fresh state are highly immunogenic, from A-mice to CBA-mice.
When lyophilisized cells are implanted (injected), they are broken down by macrophages (tissue histiocytes). According to Dr.Trotsky of Israel, in 1985, the implantation of lyophilisized cells into 300 adults and children had only the production of local histamine at the site of injection in 10% of the population. This was an IgE mediated response. In his study, 5% had lethary and flu-like sypmtoms lasting 2-3 days, 5% with a slight rise in temperature for a couple hours to days, 30% with malaise lasting 10-15 days, 50% without any side effects, and 10% with Cell Therapy Local Reaction (CTLR) wherein, the histamine response took place. In an unpublished study, and personal communication with Dr. Harvey Good, a pediatrition in Scotland, he notes that in children the side effects are less, and approximately 75% of the children have no adverse response what so ever. If adults or children go through a general detoxification prior to cellular therapy, the incidence drops even further.
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Oral Organ Extracts:
In support of Hippocrates theory and Niehans therapy, Dr. W. Boecker directed a double-blind clinical trial on 146 patients with cirrhosis of the liver. Half were given a placebo, and half took a liver extract. Sixty-seven percent of those taking the liver extract had significant improvement in liver function (more than placebo).
In another double-blind study of 600 patients suffering from hepatitis, Dr. Kiyoshi Fujisawa at the Jikei Universtiy School of Medicine in Tokyo, showed that, in only 12 weeks, 35% of the patients taking a liver extract showed substantial improvement (better than placebo). He stated, "the results of this study clearly demonstrate that oral administration of liver hydrolysate preparations can be useful in the treatment of chronic hepatitis, and this efficacy is thought to derive from improved function of damaged hepatocytes and from subsidence of active changes of the liver.
Dr. Pietro Cazzola conducted a study of 130 patients with malfunctions of the immune system and reported that treating those patients with thymic gland extracts improved their conditions.
Dr. D.M. Kouttab of the Roger Williams Hospital and Brown University, reported health efficacy for extracts of the adrenal cortex.
Dr. Franco Pandolfi of the medical school at the University of Rome directed a double-blind clinical trial on elderly hospitalized patients. Half of the patients were given a thymic extract and half took a placebo. Those taking the extract had fewer infections over a six-month period than those receiving the placebo.
Dr. V. Cangemi followed 25 patients taking thymic extracts after cancer surgery and found that none of them got infections. Tests showed that their immune systems were substantially bolstered by the thymic extracts compared to controls.
Dr. Massimo Fedrico guided a double-blind clinical trial of 134 people undergoing chemotherapy. Half of the patients were given thymic extracts, and they lived 49% longer than those taking a placebo.
Dr. Alec Fiocchi led a double-blind clinical trial on patients with chronic respiratory infections. Half of the patients were given thymic extracts, and the other half received placebos. In only three months, but not during the winter cold season, those taking the thymic extracts had 30% fewer infections than the placebo group.
Tuftsin is a peptide found in spleen extracts. Dr. I. Florentin reported in the journal, Cancer Immunology, that laboratory animals given tuftsin showed a significant 3.1 fold increase of disease-fighting cells. Dr. M.S. Wleklik found that even the tiniest amount of tuftsin in vitro stimulated the production of TNF lymphokines. These lymphokines are killers of tumor cells. Dr. M. Bruley-Rosset gave elderly mice tuftsin for a few months, reporting in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, that the capacity of disease-fighting macrophages in these old mice was restored to the level of much younger mice. Dr. M. Fridkin found that a deficiency of tuftsin is commonly found in people who get frequent infections as well as in cancer patients. AIDS patients also have very little tuftsin in their systems.
Calf heart extracts have 17 amino acids, five B vitamins, folic acid, calcium, iron, heparin, coenzyme Q10, cytochrome C and mesoglycan. A clinical study of the use of calf aorta in patients affected by chronic atherosclerotic arteriopathies showed a significant increase in femoral venous blood flow and an anticoagulant activity.
Folic acid is reported to reduce the oxidation of cholesterol Coenzyme Q10 assists the heart muscle in energy production. Cytochrome C helps all cells in the body convert oxygen and nutrients to energy.
The aorta is composed of a substance called mesoglycan, which provides structural support.
Dr. G. Laurora and researchers from the Cardiovascular Institute conducted double-blind trials on patients with early stages of arteriosclerosis (clogged arteries). Half of the patients received mesoglycan, and half took a placebo. A small section of one artery was scanned with high-resolution ultrasound before and after treatment. At the end of 18 months, the occlusion of the arteries of the patients taking the placebo had increased seven times more than those taking mesoglycan. Several clinical trials have shown that mesoglycan also deters blood clots and reduces the risk of strokes--even for people who have severely clogged arteries. Dr. F. Vecchio found that patients given mesoglycan for only 15 days experienced a 20% drop in "bad" cholesterol and 44% increase in "good" cholesterol.
A commercial product, Bioactive Cell Complex, is made from specific organ cells from young animals. The cells are "predigested" to liberate their ingredients. This matieral is freeze dried for maximum preservation. The orally ingested cells are organ-specific but not species-specific.
Theoretically, with autistic children, one would administer brain cells or gut cells for maximum efficacy.
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Stem Cell Therapy:
In principle, stem cells (immature cells that have not yet differentiated into specific types of cells) can be used to repair bone, cartilage, tendon and other injured or aged tissues. These cells can be derived from the patient's own bone marrow and thus present no problem of immune rejection.
Biologist at Osiris Therapeutics, in Baltimore, MD, have shown that human mesenchymal stem cells can be converted into bone cells, cartilage cells, fat cells and the stroma cells in the bone marrow that provide support for blood-forming cells.
Dr. Daniel R. Marshak, Osiris' chief scientific officer, said the mesenchymal stem cells could be formulated so that, when inserted in the right place in the body, they would change into the appropriate tissue.
Tests in animals show that when the cells are grown on ceramic and put into bone, they turn into bone-forming cells. If grown in a gel and inserted into cartilage, they metamorphose into cartilage cells. If injected into the bloodstream, the cells take up residence in the bone and turn into stroma cells.
A clinical trial is under way with breast cancer patients to explore the cells' stroma-forming abilities. Lack of stroma to support blood-forming cells may be why the bone marrow transplants given to cancer patients after chemotherapy are not always successful.
With Novartis AG, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, Osiris also plans to test in humans the cells' abilities to form new bone, tendon and cartilage.
The cells can also be converted to fat cells, which could prove useful in cosmetic surgery and possibly as material for breast implants.
Dr. Mark F. Pittenger,who identified the various factors needed to convert the cells into bone, cartilage, and fat, said he is now working to change them into heart-muscle cells. People are born with a fixed number of heart-muscle cells and the heart grows by enlargement of these cells, not by growing more. "We hope at the least we could prevent some of the scarring after a heart attack by implanting new cells," Pittenger said.
The human mesenchymal stem cells found in adult bone marrow are derived from the mesoderm, one of the three tissue types of the early embryo and the source of all the body's bone and connective tissue. The adult stem cells evidently retain much, and possibly all, of the mesoderm's magical plasticity.
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Research: "The Myelin Project":
The exciting work of researchers funded by The Myelin Project, whose goal is to remyelinate the human central nervous system, may someday have benefits for autistic children. Only time will tell if a specific area of damaged neurons can be found and potentially repaired with stem cells.
The first human trial, conducted by Dr. Timothy Vollmer at Yale University School of Medicine, will attempt to transplant myelin-forming Schwann cells into the brains of five patients with multiple sclerosis. The cells will be obtained from the sural nerves of the patients themselves. Although Schwann cells normally produce myelin in the peripheral nervous system, several recent experiments conducted on rodents and cats have shown these cells have the ability to remyelinate in the CNS as well.
While multiple sclerosis is a long way from autism, there is discussion of anti-myelin antibodies in autism, and there is talk of inflammatory processes involving myelin. Whether this technology can help autism if it works for multiple sclerosis is anybody's guess, but it's exciting to wonder about.
The Myelin Project funds a Cell Culture Unit at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where Dr. Su-chun Zhang continues to generate cultures with ever-higher percentages of human oligodendrocyte precursors (OPs). Oligodendrocytes are the cells that normally myelinate the CNS. If obtainable in sufficient quantity, they would provide an alternative to Schwann cells for transplantation. The Unit has developed a method to track transplanted OPs by MRI, labeling the cells with iron particles. In another recent experiment, Dr. Baron-Van Evercooren and colleagues were able to remyelinate as many as 55% of the nerves in monkey spinal cord lesions by transplanting the monkeys' own Schwann cells. These initial positive results, however, have not been confirmed in subsequent attempts. She suspects that the viral labels she used to distinguish the transplanted cells caused them to die. She is trying again without viral labeling. If successful, this experiment would prove that CNS remyelination is feasible in higher animals.
Several researchers funded by The Myelin Project have injected myelin-forming cells into the ventricles of the brain of experimental animals and have shown that these cells were transported by the cerebrospinal fluid to all regions of the brain. This makes it more likely that injected cells will travel to where the myelin needs to be repopulated.
The Myelin Project has funded Dr. Oliver Brstle of the University of Bonn, Germany, and Dr. Evan Snyder of Harvard University to work with neural stem cells (NSC). These are self-renewing, multipotent cells, capable of differentiating into the major types of neural cells, including oligodendrocytes. One of their most potentially beneficial properties is their tendency to respond to signals in the CNS environment. In CNS diseases, these signals guide the cells to damaged areas. Second, they prompt them to differentiate into the specific cell type needed for the repair -- neurons in nerve diseases like Parkinson's and oligodendrocytes in myelin disorders like the leukodystrophies and multiple sclerosis.
NSCs are typically of fetal origin, but have also been found in the adult brain. NSCs can be multiplied in culture indefinitely as an "immortal" cell line. They could eventually provide an inexhaustible source of myelin-forming cells, eliminating the need for obtaining them from fresh tissue. Several research centers are now testing human NSCs to verify their safety and in particular to rule out any risk of their becoming cancerous. If this testing concludes favorably, then prospective myelin repair strategies could take a two-fold approach. NSCs would be injected into the ventricular system where the cerebrospinal fluid would circulate them to all parts of the CNS. Local signals would then come into play, guiding the cells to the specific demyelinated areas.
The Myelin Project has also funded Dr. Robin Franklin of the University of Cambridge to study olfactory ensheathing cells, a third type of myelin-producing cell. He has perfected a technique for demyelinating the area of rat brain connecting the cerebellum with the brain stem. He subsequently remyelinated the area by transplanting rat Schwann cells, which adds to the body of evidence in favor of Schwann cell transplantation as a way of repairing CNS myelin lesions.
The Myelin Project has also funded Dr. Inderjit Singh of the Medical University of South Carolina to study the use of Lovastatin in the treatment of myelin disorders. The drug corrects the biochemical defect of adrenoleukodystrophy, lowering the levels of very long chain fatty acids in plasma. Preliminary studies with an animal model of MS have confirmed Lovastatin's ability to block the induction of cytokines, substances responsible for the inflammation of the CNS. We know that the levels of very long chain fatty acids and of some cytokines are elevated in autism. I am wonderijng already if Lovastatin might be worth trying for children with documented elevated very long chain fatty acids and elevated cytokines.
These studies present exciting possibilities for the future for treating neurodegenerative diseases. They may eventually have relevence for such diverse conditions as autism, cerebral palsy, and CNS vaccine damage syndromes. Time will tell.
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