Cells retrieved from the eye of an infant who died shortly after
birth hold promise for adults suffering from advanced Parkinson's
disease, a new Emory University study shows.

Six patients with the progressive neurological disease regained some
coordination, movement and other improvements after receiving the eye
cells.

Results were released Tuesday at the annual American Academy of
Neurology meeting in Honolulu, attended by some 10,000 specialists.
The 40 percent improvement in motor function continues today in the
six patients, most of whom are from Georgia, two years after
receiving the new therapy.


"It's not a cure," cautioned Dr. Ray Watts, lead researcher and
director of Emory School of Medicine's movement disorders
program. "It's a therapy treating symptoms. It's promising and
obviously warrants further study."


Emory will oversee a second study involving eight medical centers and
68 patients. The research is being funded by the National Institutes
of Health and Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc.


Parkinson's disease causes tremors, stiffness, slowness of movement
and a "stone face" and affects other functions, such as handwriting.
It occurswhen cells in the brain produce less and less dopamine,
which helps transmit signals within the brain. It affects about 1
million Americans.


Most therapy for Parkinson's is aimed at restoring dopamine. However,
drugs supplying dopamine usually lose their effect after several
years, Watts said.


Watts' small study used cells called retinal pigment epithelial from a
deceased infant whose organs had been donated for transplants. Infant
cells are needed because they're highly concentrated and free of
disease and infections, Watts explained. The cells grow in layers
like skin and can be endlessly reproduced in the lab from one retina.


The patients in this study each received 325,000 cells on one side of
their brains. These cells are attached to tiny microscopic beads,
called Spheramine, and injected in numerous places in the brain on
one side after a tiny hole is drilled in the skull. Patients in the
study continued to take a lower dose of their dopamine medication.


Watts said his experiment is the first one of its kind in the world
using retinal cells to control disease. It provides an alternative to
the technique using fetal stem cells, which is mired in controversy
and politics.


Although the study only involved six patients, it showed better
results than previous studies on Parkinson's patients using fetal
stem cells, said Dr. J. William Langston, CEO and scientific director
of the Parkinson's Institute in California.


"This represents an excellent example of an alternative cell therapy
that could replace stem cells," Langston said. "Stem cells are not
the only game in town for cellular replacement therapy. Ultimately,
we don't care if it's stem cells or retinal cells as long as it's
effective and safe."

No side effects have been seen in the patients receiving retinal
cells, Watts said.


The patients showed a reduction in their tremors and stiffness and
improvements in movement and balance. Researchers concluded they
experienced a 41 percent improvement in motor function and 39 percent
improvement in quality of life.


In the coming clinical trial, patients will be randomly assigned to
receive the dopamine-producing cells on both sides of the brain or
undergo an imitation surgery so neither participants nor scientists
know who received the actual treatment.


Differences between the two groups will be compared after one year.