A California biotech company has developed a new treatment that aims to treat Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis using stem cells inhaled through the nose, according to the
Medical Express Website.
The technique, announced by the La Jolla-based company StemGenex, could offer new hope for combatting a range of neurological diseases.
Company officials noted that certain neurosurgical procedures, like fixing pituitary glands, require surgeons to remove a tumor through the nose. But the new approach aims to deliver treatment into the brain through an intranasal route — including from drugs, proteins, and stem cells.
StemGenex recently announced is now offering a therapy that uses that approach for patients with multiple sclerosis, by delivering mesenchymal stem cells.
Although some drugs require absorption through the gut to pass to the liver where they can be metabolized into an active form, many other drugs can be inhaled to cross the blood-brain barrier.
Company officials said further studies are needed to track the safety and effectiveness of the technique. For it could prove to be a promising way to target tumors like glioblastoma multiforme, the form of brain cancer that which killed Sen. Ted Kennedy.