{"id":112640,"date":"2023-08-20T09:07:58","date_gmt":"2023-08-20T14:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/?p=112640"},"modified":"2023-08-20T09:07:58","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T14:07:58","slug":"stem-cells-from-one-eye-show-promise-healing-injuries-in-the-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/2023\/08\/20\/stem-cells-from-one-eye-show-promise-healing-injuries-in-the-other\/","title":{"rendered":"Stem Cells From One Eye Show Promise Healing Injuries in the Other"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"VOA \u2014 Phil Durst recalled clawing at his face after a chemical from a commercial dishwashing machine squirted into his eyes, causing \u201cthe most indescribable pain I\u2019ve ever felt \u2014 ever, ever, ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

His left eye bore the brunt of the 2017 work accident, which stole his vision, left him unable to tolerate light and triggered four to five cluster headaches a day.<\/p>\n

Then he underwent an experimental procedure that aims to treat severe injuries in one eye with stem cells from the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went from completely blind with debilitating headaches and pondering if I could go another day \u2014 like really thinking I can\u2019t do this anymore” \u2014 to seeing well enough to drive and emerging from dark places literally and figuratively, he said, choking up.<\/p>\n

The 51-year-old from Homewood, Alabama, was one of four patients to get stem cell transplants as part of the first U.S. study to test the technique, which could someday help thousands. Although additional treatment is sometimes needed, experts say stem cell transplant offers hope to people with few if any other options.<\/p>\n

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Phil Durst, in Homewood, Alabama, on Aug. 15, 2023, was one of four patients to get stem cell transplants as part of the first U.S. study to test the technique, which could someday help thousands.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Results of the early-stage research were published Friday in the journal Science Advances, and a larger study is now underway.<\/p>\n

The procedure is designed to treat \u201climbal stem cell deficiency,\u201d a corneal disorder that can occur after chemical burns and other eye injuries. Patients without limbal cells, which are essential for replenishing and maintaining the cornea\u2019s outermost layer, can\u2019t undergo corneal transplants that are commonly used to improve vision.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ula Jurkunas, an ophthalmologist at Mass Eye and Ear in Boston who was the principal investigator for the study, said the experimental technique involves taking a small biopsy of stem cells from the healthy eye, then expanding and growing them on a graft in a lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks later, they\u2019re sent back to be transplanted into the injured eye. Durst was the first patient to undergo the procedure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great part of it is that we\u2019re using a patient\u2019s own tissue,\u201d not donor tissue the body might reject, Jurkunas said.<\/p>\n

She said this method is better than a different procedure that takes a very large piece of stem cells from a healthy eye for use on an injured eye \u2014 but risks damaging the good eye.<\/p>\n

Both of Durst\u2019s eyes were hurt in the accident, which happened while the former chemical company manager was visiting a client having problems with the dishwashing machine. For six to eight months, his overall vision was so bad his wife or son had to lead him around. But his right eye was less injured than his left and could provide stem cells for the transplant.<\/p>\n

Jurkunas, who is also affiliated with Harvard Medical School, said Durst’s 2018 surgery was the culmination of almost two decades of research, \u201cso we felt immense happiness and excitement to finally do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This photo provided by Mass Eye and Ear in August 2023 shows a culture of Phil Durst’s stem cells used in an experimental procedure in Boston, Massachusetts, that aims to treat severe injuries in one eye with stem cells from the other. (Mass Eye and Ear via AP)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

All patients in the study saw their cornea surfaces restored. Durst and another patient were then able to get transplants of artificial corneas, while two others reported much-improved vision with the stem cell transplant alone. A fifth patient didn\u2019t get the procedure because the stem cells weren\u2019t able to adequately expand.<\/p>\n

At this point, Durst said, the vision in his right eye is nearly perfect but the vision in his left eye is blurry; he\u2019s scheduled for a different procedure in September to address that.<\/p>\n

Jurkunas estimates about 1,000 people in the United States per year could potentially benefit from this sort of stem cell transplant, which has also been studied in Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely an unmet clinical need for this effort \u2014 there\u2019s no question,\u201d said Dr. Tueng Shen, an ophthalmology professor at the University of Washington who was not involved in the research. She added that doctors currently have no reliable source of cultivated limbal stem cells.<\/p>\n

Researchers are finalizing the next phase of the clinical trial, which includes 15 patients. One is Nick Kharufeh, whose left eye was injured in 2020. He was watching fireworks being set off in the street when a spark hit his eyeball.<\/p>\n

Kharufeh moved from California to Boston to take part in the study, and the 26-year-old real estate agent can see well enough to fly a small plane.<\/p>\n

Although he\u2019s given up on plans of becoming a commercial pilot, \u201cI still fly whenever I get back to California. I love it,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just really thankful that they gave me the opportunity to be part of the trial because it\u2019s really helped me out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VOA \u2014 Phil Durst recalled clawing at his face after a chemical from a commercial dishwashing machine squirted into his eyes, causing \u201cthe most indescribable pain I\u2019ve ever felt \u2014 ever, ever, ever.\u201d His left eye bore the brunt of the 2017 work accident, which stole his vision, left him unable to tolerate light and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":112641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latests"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["fa","en"],"languages":{"fa":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112640"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112643,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112640\/revisions\/112643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}