Stem Cell Treatment for AMD

AMD, or adult macular degeneration, is a progressive eye disease that primarily affects your peripheral vision. AMD can also result in vision loss, images that appear dim, or black holes that are located at the center of your vision. According to the Macular Degeneration Partnership, AMD is the leading cause of severe vision loss and blindness in adults over the age of 60 in the United States. Since April of 2009, scientists in Britain have been working to develop a way to use stem cells as a possible treatment to cure AMD blindness.

• Human eye

Stem Cells

• Embryonic stem cells are derived from fertilized embryos, but not from eggs that have been fertilized within a woman's body. According The National Institutes of Health, many embryonic stem cells are comprised of eggs that have been fertilized in vitro from women who have donated their eggs for the purpose of research. Many of these eggs are blastocysts, which are the beginning cell formations of an egg, and no more than five days old.

Study

• The Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, have created a way to replace degenerated eye cells with newly formed cells that were created from embryonic stem cells. The layer of cells in your eyes known as retinal pigment epithelium begins to deteriorate when you develop AMD. The British study involves taking embryonic stem cells and manipulating the cells into exact replicas of the retinal pigment epithelium cells and then growing them on an artificial membrane. Once the cells begin to grow, these new cells could be implanted into the damaged retina.

Misconceptions

• Because the British study uses embryonic stem cells, it is expected to create controversy about the use of such cells. It is important to keep in mind, that embryonic stem cells are cells that can not result in the growth of a fetus. The sole purpose of such cells is to provide a source of cell replacement in studies that could possiblly provide cures for many diseases such as AMD and cancer.

Purpose

• According to Times Online, initial tests conducted on rats that have diseases similar to AMD showed blindness was prevented as a result of stem cell transplantation. A study on pigs also proved to be successful. The hope of the study is to use embryonic stem cells to cure blindness in AMD sufferers.

Future

• SInce the drug manufacturer, Pfizer, has backed the British team (as of April 2009), it is hoped that the embryonic stem cell treatments will be available for patients within the next few years. Clinical trials for human patients will be conducted by 2011. According to Times Online, the use of embryonic stem cells on humans for AMD will be the second such study conducted, while use on humans for spinal cord injuries was the first.