Human Umbilical Cord Blood Cells Improve Alzheimer's Disease Indices

Filed in archive Stem Cells on March 28, 2008

In animal trials, researchers found that umbilical cord blood cell therapy improved the pathology and cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's disease. According to a report:

Following a series of low-dose infusions of human umbilical cord blood cells into mice with Alzheimer's-like disease, the amount of amyloid-ß and ß-amyloid plaques-hallmarks of Alzheimer's pathology in the brain-was markedly reduced. Amyloid-ß induces an inflammatory response in the brain associated with the interaction of CD40 and CD40L, two pro-inflammatory molecules.

Human umbilical cord blood cell therapy was associated with suppression of CD40-CD40L activity, suggesting that this therapeutic approach modulates the activity of the immune system, offering the potential to target the pathogenic inflammatory response that may contribute to a variety of degenerative conditions, including Alzheimer's disease.

The study is published in the journal Stem Cells and Development (free full text access).