Neural Stem Cells Transplantation as a Neuroprotective Strategy for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

IntroductionAmiotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease with a prevalence rate of up to 7.4/100,000 and the overall risk of developing ALS over a lifetime is 1:400. Most patients die from respiratory failure following a course of progressive weakness. There is no effective therapy. Novel therapeutic strategies might be directed at replacing or repairing the damaged motor neurons; Cell therapy is emerging as a potential therapeutic option in ALS. The primary objective of our study was to verify the safety and tolerability of transplantation of human fetal neural stem cells (hNSCs) directly into the spinal cord of humans. The study was approved by the SuperiorNational Health Institute.Material and Methods18 patients with definite ALS were recruited and treated. Patients were included if they had ALS of spinal onset with severe functional impairment of the lower limbs and mild functional impairment of the upper limbs without signs of respiratory failure. The patients were monitored by ...