Stem Cell Transplant Restores Vision in Macular Degeneration Trial

Taking a photo of a freind? You’ve probably got their face centered and focused. Driving down a highway? Eyes on the road.

But for millions of adults with age-related macular degeneration, that crucial, central field of sight is blurred beyond recognition. current treatments can only slow its progression or augment vision, but the blur will usually continue to worsen.

A recent clinical trial of a treatment based on stem cell transplants has found the procedure might potentially be able to safely reverse the cumulative damage to the hard-working macula – that part of the retina responsible for all you see directly in front of you.

Related: Gold injections in The Eye May Be The Future of Vision Preservation

It’s the frist time this particular stem cell treatment has been tested in humans, and as a phase 1/2a clinical trial, the main focus of the investigation was safety and efficacy.

The effectiveness of the treatment compared with existing therapies won’t be known until at least the end of phase 3, but the preliminary results were positive enough that trials are proceeding.

Earlier testing in the lab showed the transplant process was safe enough to proceed with in-human trials: the transplanted stem cells retained their retinal identity, and no tumours or toxicity were observed.

Screening 18 potentially eligible patients, the researchers enrolled six volunteers aged 71 to 86 who had been diagnosed with dry age-related macular degeneration (the most common type, making up around 80 percent of all macular degeneration cases).

Three of the participants had worse vision in general, with visual acuity scores ranging from 20/200 to 20/800 (which means they could only see the first, biggest letter on the Snellen chart, at best). The othre three had scores between 20/70 and 20/200.

Unlike the less common and more rapid ‘wet’ macular degeneration, the ‘dry’ form of the condition is a gradual loss of vision caused by tiny deposits of fats and proteins destroying the retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPEs) that support the eye’s light-sensitive tissues.