Proving the possibility of treating vascular dementia using stem cells
Mar 03, 2025
A research team led by Professors Park Dong-hyuk and Kim Jang-hoon of Neurosurgery at Korea University Anam Hospital, Professor Kim Jong-hoon of Korea University's Department of Biotechnology, and Professor Geum Dong-ho of the Department of Medicine revealed the effectiveness of regenerative therapy using stem cells in vascular dementia.
Vascular dementia is a type of dementia caused by a lack of blood supply in the brain, accounting for about 20% of all dementia patients. It occurs in about 30% of stroke survivors, and other chronic cerebrovascular diseases are known to be the main cause, but there is no effective treatment like Alzheimer's dementia, so the need for research has been raised.
The research team conducted the experiment by dividing the animal models into three groups. The three groups consisted of the normal group, the vascular dementia group, and the neuropreventive cell administration group, respectively. The progenitor cell administration group received progenitor cells made from human-derived starchy stem cells for 15 days for treatment after the induction of vascular dementia lesions. The research team compared and analyzed the differences in each group through immunohistochemical tests and nerve behavior tests after three months of follow-up observation.
As a result of the study, the number of positive cells of IBA-1 and GFAP indicating the degree of inflammation was 130 and 110 in the vascular dementia group, respectively. On the other hand, the group of neural progenitor cells confirmed that the number of cells decreased to 90 and 70 respectively, reducing the inflammatory response of the brain. In addition, myelin protein fluorescence intensity, which helps maintain nerve function, decreased to 60 in the vascular dementia group, but increased to more than 90 in the neurotransmitter-administered group, showing a similar level to that of the normal group. Through this, it was found that neural progenitor cells have a positive effect on the regeneration of myelin.
Neurobehavioral tests showed that the neurotransmitter cell administration group had a memory lasting 252.0 seconds in the Passive Avoidance Test (PAT) evaluation, while the vascular dementia group had only 92.1 seconds. In addition, in the Novel Object Recognition Test (NORT) evaluation, it was confirmed that the neurotransmitter cell administration group improved memory and cognitive ability by 2.2 times compared to the vascular dementia group.
Professor Park Dong-hyuk said, `This study confirmed that neural progenitor cells reduce inflammation in the brain of vascular dementia animals and improve memory and cognitive ability by regenerating myelin, an important component of the axon of neurons"This is a discovery that suggests the possibility that neural progenitor cells could be a new solution to the treatment of vascular dementia."
Professor Kim Jang-hoon "This study will serve as an opportunity to develop regenerative treatments using stem cells in vascular dementia in the future."I hope it will be a new hope for patients who have not been effective in existing treatments."
The study was carried out as part of the pan-ministerial renewable medical technology development research project, and was published in the February 2025 issue of the global regenerative medicine journal Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine after completing domestic patent registration (10-2477030) in December 2022.
Meanwhile, Professor Park Dong-hyuk is in charge of the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases including brain aneurysm and is focusing on related research. Recently, various national studies have been actively conducted on the development of vascular dementia, ischemic stroke, and Alzheimer's treatments, such as finding that mixed administration of human embryonic stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles and stem cell-derived MFG-E8 substances is effective in ischemic strokes.
Vascular dementia is a type of dementia caused by a lack of blood supply in the brain, accounting for about 20% of all dementia patients. It occurs in about 30% of stroke survivors, and other chronic cerebrovascular diseases are known to be the main cause, but there is no effective treatment like Alzheimer's dementia, so the need for research has been raised.
The research team conducted the experiment by dividing the animal models into three groups. The three groups consisted of the normal group, the vascular dementia group, and the neuropreventive cell administration group, respectively. The progenitor cell administration group received progenitor cells made from human-derived starchy stem cells for 15 days for treatment after the induction of vascular dementia lesions. The research team compared and analyzed the differences in each group through immunohistochemical tests and nerve behavior tests after three months of follow-up observation.
As a result of the study, the number of positive cells of IBA-1 and GFAP indicating the degree of inflammation was 130 and 110 in the vascular dementia group, respectively. On the other hand, the group of neural progenitor cells confirmed that the number of cells decreased to 90 and 70 respectively, reducing the inflammatory response of the brain. In addition, myelin protein fluorescence intensity, which helps maintain nerve function, decreased to 60 in the vascular dementia group, but increased to more than 90 in the neurotransmitter-administered group, showing a similar level to that of the normal group. Through this, it was found that neural progenitor cells have a positive effect on the regeneration of myelin.
Neurobehavioral tests showed that the neurotransmitter cell administration group had a memory lasting 252.0 seconds in the Passive Avoidance Test (PAT) evaluation, while the vascular dementia group had only 92.1 seconds. In addition, in the Novel Object Recognition Test (NORT) evaluation, it was confirmed that the neurotransmitter cell administration group improved memory and cognitive ability by 2.2 times compared to the vascular dementia group.
Professor Park Dong-hyuk said, `This study confirmed that neural progenitor cells reduce inflammation in the brain of vascular dementia animals and improve memory and cognitive ability by regenerating myelin, an important component of the axon of neurons"This is a discovery that suggests the possibility that neural progenitor cells could be a new solution to the treatment of vascular dementia."
Professor Kim Jang-hoon "This study will serve as an opportunity to develop regenerative treatments using stem cells in vascular dementia in the future."I hope it will be a new hope for patients who have not been effective in existing treatments."
The study was carried out as part of the pan-ministerial renewable medical technology development research project, and was published in the February 2025 issue of the global regenerative medicine journal Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine after completing domestic patent registration (10-2477030) in December 2022.
Meanwhile, Professor Park Dong-hyuk is in charge of the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases including brain aneurysm and is focusing on related research. Recently, various national studies have been actively conducted on the development of vascular dementia, ischemic stroke, and Alzheimer's treatments, such as finding that mixed administration of human embryonic stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles and stem cell-derived MFG-E8 substances is effective in ischemic strokes.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
