Stem cell breakthrough offers hope for spina bifida before birth

The trial, led by fetal and neonatal surgeon Diana Farmer at the University of California, Davis, involved six pregnant women whose fetuses were diagnosed with myelomeningocele, the most serious form of spina bifida. The condition can cause paralysis, brain damage and loss of bladder and bowel control.

During surgery at 24 to 25 weeks of gestation, doctors applied stem cells derived from donated placentas directly to the exposed spinal cords. According to the research team, no surgical complications were recorded. Babies were delivered at around 34 weeks with no signs of infection, cerebrospinal fluid leakage or tumor growth.

All newborns showed reversal of hindbrain herniation, a dangerous complication in which part of the brain descends into the neck and blocks fluid circulation.

“It’s exciting and it’s important that we’re advancing in the field and that we’re looking at novel therapies,” said Clare Whitehead, a fetal-medicine specialist at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne. However, she cautioned: “With fetal therapy, we have to be very cautious.”

Although in utero surgery to close the spinal defect already exists, nearly 60% of children still cannot walk independently, Farmer noted. Animal studies in sheep previously showed that combining surgery with stem cells enabled treated animals to stand and walk.

Researchers stress that long term safety and effectiveness must be confirmed. A larger trial involving 29 additional participants has now been approved.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that health authorities in the United Kingdom and Brazil had issued warnings about a potential link between widely used GLP-1 weight loss medications and acute pancreatitis, a rare but potentially fatal inflammation of the pancreas.