title: In-utero transplantation of fetal liver stem cells into human fetuses.
abstract: Three human fetuses were treated by transplantation of human fetal liver stem cells. Two of them had severe immunodeficiency disease and the third had thalassaemia major. All three in-utero transplants were followed by engraftment. No adverse effect was seen. The three patients have now been born: the first is very healthy thanks to the reconstitution of cell-mediated immunity associated with this transplant, and he lives normally at home; the other two, who were treated more recently, have not yet shown a complete effect. The feasibility and efficacy of this procedure, used for the first time in humans, has therefore been demonstrated: during early fetal development, foreign cells engraft readily and may result in significant improvement of a large variety of inherited diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Transplantation and Clinical Immunology, Pav. P, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Touraine
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D016332:Fetal Tissue Transplantation; D005865:Gestational Age; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006681:HLA-D Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D016511:Severe Combined Immunodeficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D006681:HLA-D Antigens