Vision Repair Possible With Stem Cell Therapy; Phase 1 Clinical Trial Shows Success in Chemical Burn Victims

Repairing eye damage can be very tricky with only a few approaches available due to the eyes being an incredibly sensitive part of the body. As such, a new approach with the use of stem cells for eye repairs has just passed the first phase of its clinical trial.

Eye Repair with Stem Cells

The clinical trial involved testing the approach on four individuals who all suffered chemical burns in one eye. So far, the approach has shown positive results with the therapy that involves the use of stem cells.

Without further treatment, two of the participants showed significant improvements when it came to their vision. This was revealed in a follow-up by the team of researchers, wherein only the two relied mainly on stem cell treatment.

The other patients who also suffered chemical burns went through corneal transplants after the option was previously unavailable due to the severity of the injuries they sustained. Ula Jurkunas, the Massachusetts Eye and Ear ophthalmologist and lead study author, described how they hope to transform people with previously deemed untreatable conditions.

The main goal would be to offer treatments for vision loss and pain sustained from major injuries in one's cornea. As such, Jurkunas suggested that the treatment might offer hope to those who had previously untreatable conditions.

New Technique

The technique involves getting tissue grafts taken from the remaining healthy eye. This comes directly from stem cells' small biopsy in a process called cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell (CALEC) transportation.

Because the cells are taken from the healthy eye, this process doesn't come with a risk of rejection if the cells were taken from other parts of the body. CALEC transplantation cells come from the limbus of the healthy eye, located at the outer part of the corneal border.

The limbal stem cells are integral when it comes to cornea preservation, protection, and transplantation of the eye's outer layer, where the light first penetrates. The smoothness of one's limbal system is important when it comes to having a clear vision.

Alternative Treatments

Chemical burns can cause the limbal area permanent damage, making it impossible for cell regeneration through natural cell growth. Transplantation treatments are often used to repair eye damage and oftentimes come from a donor's eye instead of the person themselves.

However, this process isn't possible for those experiencing significant damage due to the need for healthy eye surface and limbal stem cells. The approach uses a very small amount of stem cell tissue from the healthy eye, resulting in larger stem cell layers to help facilitate healthy regeneration.

Other treatment options include tissue grafts from a donor limbal, which also come with the risk of infection. Another reason why this approach isn't necessarily the best is because the removal of too much tissue can result in the healthy eye sustaining substantial damage to affect limbal cell growth.

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