Translational research : the journal of laboratory and clinical medicine
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Clinical Trial
Open-labeled study of unilateral autologous bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease for which stem cell research has created hope in the last few years. Seven PD patients aged 22 to 62 years with a mean duration of disease 14.7+/-7.56 years were enrolled to participate in the prospective, uncontrolled, pilot study of single-dose, unilateral transplantation of autologous bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs). The BM-MSCs were transplanted into the sublateral ventricular zone by stereotaxic surgery. ⋯ These results indicate that our protocol seems to be safe, and no serious adverse events occurred after stem-cell transplantation in PD patients. The number of patients recruited and the uncontrolled nature of the trial did not permit demonstration of effectiveness of the treatment involved. However, the results encourage future trials with more patients to demonstrate efficacy.
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Arsenic trioxide produces high rates of complete clinical remission in patients with relapsed/refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia. Platelet activation is relevant in a variety of acute thrombotic events and coronary heart diseases. Few studies have examined the effects of arsenic trioxide on platelets, and the mechanisms underlying the signaling pathways remain obscure. ⋯ Moreover, arsenic trioxide markedly inhibited p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) but not JNK1/2 or ERK2 phosphorylation in washed platelets. Arsenic trioxide also markedly reduced hydroxyl radical (OH(.)) formation in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) study. The most important findings of this study suggest that the inhibitory effect of arsenic trioxide possibly involves inhibition of the PLC gamma 2-PKC-p38 MAPK cascade, thereby leading to inhibition of [Ca(+2)]i or free radical formation, and finally the inhibition of platelet aggregation.