Human Umbilical Cord Blood Treatment in a Mouse Model of ALS: Optimization of Cell Dose

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a multicausal disease characterized by motor neuron degeneration in the spinal cord and brain. Cell therapy may be a promising new treatment for this devastating disorder. We recently showed that a single low dose (10(6) cells) of mononuclear human umbilical cord blood (MNC hUCB) cells administered intravenously to G93A mice delayed symptom progression and modestly prolonged lifespan. The aim of this pre-clinical translation study is to optimize the dose of MNC hUCB cells to retard disease progression in G93A mice. Three different doses of MNC hUCB cells, 10x10(6), 25x10(6) and 50x10(6), were administered intravenously into pre-symptomatic G93A mice. Motor function tests and various assays to determine cell effects were performed on these mice.Our results showed that a cell dose of 25x10(6) cells significantly increased lifespan of mice by 20-25% and delayed disease progression by 15%. The most beneficial effect on decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokines in the brain and spinal cord was found in this group of mice. Human Th2 cytokines were found in plasma of mice receiving 25x10(6) cells, although prevalent human Th1 cytokines were indicated in mice with 50x10(6) cells. High response of splenic cells to mitogen (PHA) was indicated in mice receiving 25x10(6) (mainly) and 10x10(6) cells. Significantly increased lymphocytes and decreased neutrophils in the peripheral blood were found only in animals receiving 25x10(6) cells. Stable reduction in microglia density in both cervical and lumbar spinal cords was also noted in mice administered with 25x10(6) cells.These results demonstrate that treatment for ALS with an appropriate dose of MNC hUCB cells may provide a neuroprotective effect for motor neurons through active involvement of these cells in modulating the host immune inflammatory system response

A pattern recognition approach to Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD) study

The algorithms of pattern recognition were used for differentiation between two forms of Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD), i.e. autosomal-dominant laminopathy (AD-EDMD) and Xlinked emerynopathy (X-EDMD). A set of some matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) in serum of EDMD patients and healthy subjects were treated as features. In concluding MMPs and TIMPs levels are helpful to identifying the EDMD patients and the disease progress

Pattern recognition approach to differentiation of disease severity in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

A possibility of recognition of the clinical status of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in relation to severity of the disease was investigated. Three groups: (i) healthy controls (n=15) and two subgroups of ALS patients (ii) mild (n=15) and (iii) severe (n=15) were considered as classes. Four features of the subjects: (i) their age (AGE) (ii) erythropoietin concentration in serum (SERUM), (iii) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and (iv) duration time of the disease (Tdis) were used for classifier construction based on the k Nearest Neighbours (k-NN) rule, known from pattern recognition theory. The presented results demonstrate that the pattern recognition approach may be useful for the evaluation of the severity of the ALS disease