Making a breakthrough in the treatment of Parkinson's disease utilising the stem cell therapy, the Manipal Hospital has reported that it has administered, for the first in the country, the stem cells for Parkinson's disease. The autologous stem cells were retrieved from the bone marrow of a US patient who was suffering from the degenerating disorder for the last 15 years.

The patient Andrew Kisana, a US national after having undergone intensive drug therapy, lesion and deep brain stimulation (DBS), came to Manipal Hospital. After stem cell treatment last year, he has shown remarkable recovery in his symptoms and has started walking without support. There has also been significant reduction in tremors. Since the last six months, his medication for Parkinson's disease has been withdrawn.

"The treatment hits the root cause of the disease which none of the drugs or DBS seemed to have any affect," Andrew Kisana typed his responses on the laptop to queries by the media.

The hospital also highlighted its success in a spinal chord injured paralysed patient who was also injected stem cell and found lot of relief terms muscular movement.

"The successful recovery of the patient would give hope to scores of Parkinson's cases which affects one per cent of the population. The condition largely manifests in cases above 50 years but there are younger people being affected. Stem cell injection now gives patients to explore the new modality. However, we need to observe the long term clinical effects in larger number of patients to decide whether it is primary or secondary or supplementary treatment option for degenerative disorders", stated Dr NK Venkataramana, head, department of neurosurgery and secretary, National Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery Society of India (NS&FNSI). The findings of the successful treatment with stem cell will be presented at the NS&FNSI conference in Kolkatta in mid-October 2007 and thereafter will be published in leading medical journals.

The cost of treatment is Rs 75,000 per infusion which is far lower compared to cost of drugs and DBS (Rs 6 lakh per session). In the US, the stem cell infusion is estimated to cost between $70,000 and $90,000.

The hospital already has put in four years of effort in stem cells. It had set up a Stem Cell Research Centre, which has an ICMR approval and DBT clearance. There is also Stempeutics, the commercial arm of stem cell therapies. "These initiatives resulted in achieving successful clinical outcomes from the stem cells at a faster pace, stated R Basil, managing director and CEO, Manipal Health Systems.

Following the success of the Parkinson's case with stem cells, the hospital has opened Department of Stem Cells to streamline treatment. Presently, 15 spinal chord injured and nine leg ischemia cases are undergoing stem cell injections.

According to Nagendra Swamy, medical director Manipal Health Systems out of the Rs 45 crore investment made so far for the stem cells programme, Rs 20 crore has been utilized and the remaining Rs 25 crore will be put into use for equipment purchase and manpower management.

Dr Satish Totey, chief scientific officer, stated that with this successful case the evolution of treatment for Parkinson's disease using autologous stem cells is on. "India is now uniquely positioned for stem cell research and is a clinical hub for the same."