title: Administration of autologous bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells in children with incurable neurological disorders and injury is safe and improves their quality of life.
abstract: Neurological disorders such as muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, and injury to the brain and spine currently have no known definitive treatments or cures. A study was carried out on 71 children suffering from such incurable neurological disorders and injury. They were intrathecally  and intramuscularly administered autologous bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells. Assessment after transplantation showed neurological improvements in muscle power and a shift on assessment scales such as FIM and Brooke and Vignos scale. Further, imaging and electrophysiological studies also  showed significant changes in selective cases. On an average follow-up of 15 ± 1 months, overall 97% muscular dystrophy cases showed subjective and functional improvement, with 2 of them also showing changes on MRI and 3 on EMG. One hundred percent of the spinal cord injury cases showed  improvement with respect to muscle strength, urine control, spasticity, etc. Eighty-five percent of cases of cerebral palsy cases showed improvements, out of which 75% reported improvement in muscle tone and 50% in speech among other symptoms. Eighty-eight percent of cases of other incurable  neurological disorders such as autism, Retts Syndrome, giant axonal neuropathy, etc., also showed improvement. No significant adverse events were noted. The results show that this treatment is safe, efficacious, and also improves the quality of life of children with incurable neurological  disorders and injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Services and Clinical Research, NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute, Surana Sethia Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, India. alok276@gmail.com
authors.forename: Alok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Nandini
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gokulchandran
authors.forename: Guneet
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chopra
authors.forename: Pooja
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kulkarni
authors.forename: Mamta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lohia
authors.forename: Prerna
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Badhe
authors.forename: V C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Jacob
mesh_terms: D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D011788:Quality of Life; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous