Source: World-first stem-cell treatment restores vision in people, Nature, 8 Nov 2024. Summary written by Future Health GCC.

What happened

Doctors at Osaka University Hospital in Japan have reported the world’s first transplants of corneal tissue made from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), adult cells reprogrammed in the laboratory to behave like early-stage stem cells. The study was published in The Lancet in November 2024 and reported by Nature.

The condition

The cornea is the clear outer surface of the eye. It is kept healthy by stem cells at its edge, called limbal stem cells. When these are lost through disease or injury, the cornea becomes cloudy and scarred, and vision can be severely reduced. This condition, limbal stem cell deficiency, is difficult to treat.

What they did and found

Four patients, aged 39 to 72, each had one eye treated with a thin sheet of corneal cells grown from donor iPSCs. The main aim was safety.

Over two years there were no serious side effects, no tumours and no clinical rejection. After a year, the disease had improved, vision was better and clouding had reduced in all four treated eyes. Nature reported that three of the four kept substantial gains in sight for more than a year, while one person’s improvement did not last.

How far along it is

This was a small, first-in-human safety study with no comparison group. A larger clinical trial is planned to test how well the treatment works.

What it means for families

It is an important step for stem cell-based repair of the eye. The treatment is still experimental and not available outside research.

Read the original article on Nature →

This is a summary of published research, written by Future Health GCC. It is not medical advice. Speak to your doctor about any treatment.

Photo: JeevaMuthuramalingam, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).