Читать книгу The SAGE Encyclopedia of Stem Cell Research - Группа авторов - Страница 444

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) has been named one of 25 regional stroke centers by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and it is the only one in Texas. It is one of the first centers in the country to test stem cell therapies. From cooling the brain to infusing stem cells, UTHealth is working hard to change that. An international leader in research and clinical care, UTHealth was one of the original sites in the groundbreaking trial that found tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) could help stroke patients. Researchers are now studying autologous stem cells, drugs that can be used in combination with tPA, other potential clot busters, and brain cooling for stroke.

Sean Savitz, director of the stroke program at UTHealth, is pioneering the only randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, intra-arterial clinical trial in the world for ischemic stroke. The goal of the project is to study the safety and efficacy of a regenerative therapy called ALD-401, consisting of highly active and sophisticated isolated stem cells generated and developed by Aldagen Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cytomedix Inc., that uses a patient’s own bone marrow stem cells and that can be administered between 13 and 19 days post stroke. The cells are administered into the carotid artery. Patients are followed for 12 months to monitor safety and to assess mental and physical function. Multiple centers have now signed on for the clinical trial.