The possibility of stem cell treatment is opening up for urinary disorders caused by diabetes

[메디컬투데이=이재혁 기자] Stem cells are emerging as an alternative to treating an underactive bladder, one of the body problems that affect diabetic patients.

The research team administered mesenchymal stem cells once to an animal model of hypoactive liver caused by diabetes by Professor Shin Dong-myeong, Department of Cell Genetics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology , Professor Seung-hoo Kim, Department of Urology, and Professor Joo. -hyun Park, Department of Urology As a result, urinary dysfunction was greatly improved and treatment was achieved at Asan Medical Center, Ulsan College of Medicine.

Diabetic patients not only experience changes in their sensory nerves, but they also tend to develop an underactive bladder as free radicals caused by high blood sugar levels reduce contracture of the detrusor muscle. The main symptoms are a weak urine stream, delayed urination, and residual urine, and as the disease progresses, the patient’s quality of life inevitably decreases.

At the moment, there is no complete treatment method, so patients have to perform self-catheterization by inserting a urine line into the urethra and draining the remaining urine. Not only is this very painful, but it also has to be repeated 4 to 6 times a day, causing great disruption to daily life. There is also a high risk of complications such as urinary tract damage or infection.

Accordingly, the research team developed a stem cell treatment that regenerates bladder nerves and detrusor muscles to treat the dysfunctional bladder experienced by diabetic patients and evaluated the efficacy of pre- clinical.

First, a hypoactive bladder model was established by inducing diabetes in mice by administering low doses of streptozotocin, a drug that destroys beta cells. In the group receiving streptozotocin, urinary dysfunction was confirmed, with a significant increase in micturition interval, residual urine volume, and bladder capacity, and a decrease in urination pressure.

On the other hand, in the group that received a single dose of enhanced mesenchymal stem cells (PFO-MSC), which are being developed together with the Cell Therapy Center at Asan Medical Center, urinary dysfunction was significantly improved, and inflammatory response in bladder and detrusor muscle damage also improved. This effect lasted more than 4 weeks, indicating a long-term treatment effect.

In particular, it was demonstrated that PFO-MSCs transplanted into the bladder were directly involved in detrusor muscle regeneration by expressing muscle proteins within the muscle. detrusor. As a result of pure isolation of these cells and single-cell analysis, the molecular characteristics of muscle progenitor cells were observed.

As a result, the research team obtained evidence supporting the therapeutic mechanism of PFO-MSC in hypoactive bladder disease caused by diabetes.

This PFO-MSC was developed through the research team’s best low-molecular-weight mixed culture technology. It is a treatment that increases the degree of grafting and antioxidant capacity while maintaining the characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells through a single process without genetic treatment.

Shin Dong-myeong, a professor in the Department of Cell Genetics at Asan Medical Center, Ulsan College of Medicine, said, “The PFO-MSC developed in this study is a commercial adult stem cell treatment that can be implanted in the immediately involved in clinical trials and what. to be a key source technology for enhancing stem cell function.”

Through collaborative research with the Cell Therapy Center of the Asan Institute for Life Sciences at the Asan Medical Center in Seoul, the research team is building an industrial production system process to enable not only multifunctional stem cell treatment technology produce a single process, but also submit it immediately to external resources. We plan to link to sponsor-led clinical trials in the future.

one side, This study is important because it first revealed the possibility of treating hypoactive bladder, an incurable disease, with stem cells. The results of the research were published in the latest issue of the international academic journal ‘Clinical and Translational Medicine’.

Medical Today Reporter Jaehyuk Lee ([email protected])

[저작권자ⓒ 메디컬투데이. 무단전재-재배포 금지]