Human fetal-cell transplants planned.

Human fetal-cell transplants planned

Last week's announcement that Swedishscientists had for the first time successfully implanted brain tissue from a human fetus into animal brains-- and that similar experiments might soon follow in humans--provided some new hope for victims of Parkinson's disease, but may have opened an ethical Pandora's box as well. The report was presented at an international symposium on mammalian transplant of nerve tissue--the first such meeting to convene since scientists began experimenting with dopamine-producing tissue transplants in humans with Parkinson's disease (SN: 4/18/87, p.244).

More than 30 such human trials,which have so far been limited to transplanting cells from patients' adrenal glands into their brains, were described at the University of Rochester-sponsored symposium. But several of the researchers predicted that brain tissue from aborted human embryos may prove more effective than adrenal tissue for stimulating dopamine production in patients' brains.

"It has been well documented fromresearch with rats and mice, and also to some extent in primates now, that adrenal cells--although beneficial--are not as efficient as "the real thing' [brain cells] in counteracting Parkinson's symptoms,' such as tremors and muscular rigidity, says ke Seiger of the department of neurosurgery at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. "Brain cells taken from the embryo have a substantial capacity to grow, whereas the adrenal cells do not normally grow. And these [brain] cells are more likely to be sensitive to the chemical cues normally found in the brain.'

Two Swedish groups at the Rochestermeeting said they had alleviated Parkinson-like symptoms in animals by implanting human fetal brain tissue, and that they plan to perform such transplants on humans, perhaps within a year. Although none of the U.S. researchers at the meeting announced similar plans, the technique, if successful, is bound to stir both interest and controversy in the United States. Abortion foes have already denounced the practice of using fetal tissue for medical or experimental purposes, arguing that such procedures may make abortions more acceptable.

"The issues at this point are probablymore ethical than legal,' according to George J. Annas, professor of health law at the Boston University School of Medicine. In most states the experimental use of fetal tissue is legal with the mother's approval, he says. "The question is, if people saw that this was being done, would they try to change the law and make it illegal?'

It's possible, some researchers say,that related research may make the issue moot. There is hope that fetal brain cells from other animals may work in humans, or that genetically engineered cells may do the trick. In addition, says Abraham Lieberman, professor of neurology at the New York University School of Medicine, "Many people are working to develop cell lines of human fetal cells,' thus eliminating the need for actual fetuses. "There are going to be problems in doing this,' he says. "But it certainly is an exciting approach, and one that is within the feasibility of our current technology.'