Effect Of Human Umbilical Cord Blood (HUCB) On Parkinson’s Disease Mice

1. Effect Of Human Umbilical Cord Blood (HUCB) On Parkinson’s Disease Mice Norman Ende, MD and Ruifeng Chen, MD New Jersey Medical School, Newark, N.J. 07103 Background: The possibility that human embryonic stem cells might improve the clinical status of patients with Parkinson's disease has received considerable attention. In 1995, it was suggested that immature cells (Berashis Cells) existing in human cord blood might have an ameliorating effect on such neurological diseases as Alzheimer's, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinson's Disease. Since these predictions, we have been able to successfully extend the length of life of mice with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington's and Alzheimer's disease. Recently we expanded the studies to include mice with Parkinson's disease. Design: 32 mice, 6-12 weeks old B6CBACa-AW-J/A-K cnj6<wv> were received from Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine. The mice were divided into 3 groups: (A) 10 untreated control mice, (B) 10 mice treated with 5.6 x 106 congenic bone marrow mononuclear cells intravenously and (C) 12 mice receiving 100-110 x 106 HUCB mononuclear cells intravenously. By 12 weeks these mice develop tremor and become unable to feed themselves or drink. Result: At 78 days 6 out of 10 controls were dead, only 3 to 10 of the bone marrow treated mice were dead, while only 2 of 12 mice treated with HUCB were dead. At 180 days 8 of the 10 untreated controls were dead. 7 of the 10 mice treated with congenic bone marrow were dead and 6 out of 12 of the mice treated with 100-105 x 106 mononuclear cord blood cells were dead. The survival of mice receiving cord blood mononuclear cells as compared to untreated controls was significant (p<0.001). Mouse congenic bone marrow usually has a parallel survival curve to untreated controls, but in this model it was also significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: Without the use of immunosuppression human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells significantly delayed the onset of symptoms of Parkinson's disease mice and increased the life span. Support by Abraham S. Ende Research Foundation. Cord Blood and Storage: Blood Bank Stored at 4ºC For 10-13 days MNC separated with ficol histopaque Placentas HUCB Gas permeable bag Animal model: B6CBACa-AW-J/A-K cnj6<wv> Animal age: 6-12 weeks Animal were divided into three groups: 10 control mice 10 mice with congenic bone marrow 10 mice with HUCB