%0 Journal Article
%T Intrathecal Administration of Autologous CD34 Positive Cells in Patients with Past Cerebral Infarction: A Safety Study
%A Liming Wang
%A Haijie Ji
%A Ming Li
%A Jianjun Zhou
%A Wen Bai
%A Zhanqiang Zhong
%A Na Li
%A Delin Zhu
%A Zijia Zhang
%A Yongjun Liu
%A Mingyuan Wu
%J ISRN Neurology
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/128591
%X Regenerative strategies in treatment of stroke have great potential. The goal of the current study was to investigate safety of intrathecal administration of autologous CD34 positive cells in treatment of patients with poststroke. A total of eight male patients with a history of stroke were enrolled. The patients were treated subcutaneously with 5£¿¦Ìg/kg body weight rhG-CSF for 5 consecutive days, and then leukapheresis was performed to concentrate cells for CD34 positive immunoselection. All patients underwent intrathecal administration of CD34 positive cells via lumbar puncture. The primary outcome was safety evaluation for 12-month followup. In addition, behavioral function was evaluated with NIH stroke scale and Barthel index 1, 6, and 12 months after the last treatment, respectively. There were no major adverse events, and abnormal changes of blood tests during the whole treatment process included intrathecal administration and 12-month followup. The main message from the current study was that administration of G-CSF-mobilized autologous CD34 positive cells in patients with poststroke was safe. Future studies with larger population and control group are needed to confirm the safety and investigate the efficacy. 1. Introduction Cerebrovascular disorder, mainly including ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, is the third cause of death after cardiovascular disease and cancer [1] and the leading cause of long-term disability in adults in China [2]. Although stroke mortality has declined in the past decades, its prevalence and morbidity increased dramatically because of enhanced stroke survival [3]. About 40% of stroke survivors have certain degree of impairment and 15¨C30% are severely disabled [4]. Therefore, every effort to prevent and treat stroke is urgently warranted. Up to date, many targets within the cascade of neuronal death have been identified. However, neuroprotective strategies in treating poststroke with sequela are controversial [5]. Since neural progenitor and stem cells were discovered in the adult brain for the first time in 1992 [6], different experimental stroke models indicated that neural progenitor and stem cells with activities of migration and differentiation are activated by hypoxia in brain [7, 8]. Increasing evidence from basic studies indicates that cord blood mononuclear cells, bone marrow mononuclear cells, and bone marrow stromal cells can survive in postischemia tissue and reduce neuronal damage when transplanted into rodents subjected to cerebral infarction [9¨C12]. Bone marrow-derived CD34 positive cells have previously
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.neurology/2013/128591/