Study sizes up fetal cells for transplant.Human fetal tissue from miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies appears unsuitable, in most cases, for transplantation to treat human diseases, according to a new study. The history of human fetal tissue transplantation Fetal tissue transplantation A method of treating Parkinson's and other neurological diseases by grafting brain cells from human fetuses onto the affected area of the human brain. Human adults cannot grow new brain cells but developing fetuses can. in the United States has been touch and go. In 1992, President Bush continued the Reagan-era ban on federal funding of research using human fetal tissue obtained from induced abortions. To mollify mol·li·fy tr.v. mol·li·fied, mol·li·fy·ing, mol·li·fies 1. To calm in temper or feeling; soothe. See Synonyms at pacify. 2. To lessen in intensity; temper. 3. the research community, however, Bush did allow federal funding of research on fetal tissue obtained after a female donor had had a spontaneous abortion or an ectopic pregnancy (SN: 7/4/92, p.15). The new study demonstrates for the first time that the amount of usable human fetal tissue obtained from such donors is quite small. D. Ware Branch of the University of Utah The University of Utah (also The U or the U of U or the UU), located in Salt Lake City, is the flagship public research university in the state of Utah, and one of 10 institutions that make up the Utah System of Higher Education. in Salt Lake City, Thomas J. Gill III of the University of Pittsburgh, and their colleagues examined fetal tissue obtained from women who had gone to the emergency room or been hospitalized during a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy -- a life-threatening condition in which the fertilized fer·til·ize v. fer·til·ized, fer·til·iz·ing, fer·til·iz·es v.tr. 1. To cause the fertilization of (an ovum, for example). 2. egg starts to grow in the fallopian tube of a woman's reproductive tract. The researchers studied 1,250 embryos expelled during miscarriages and 247 specimens of tissue obtained during the surgical treatment of an ectopic pregnancy. Their analysis revealed that only seven embryos seemed suitable for transplantation therapy. Most of the unsuitable embryos appeared to have suffered bacterial contamination. In addition, a large number showed a variety of chromosomal abnormalities. Such genetically abnormal fetal cells might go on to become a malignant tumor if transplanted to a recipient's body, Gill says. In 1993, President Clinton lifted the ban on federal funding for research on fetal tissue obtained during an induced abortion. "The availability of human fetal tissue from induced abortions should increase the amount of useful tissues," say the researchers in the Jan. 4 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association is an international peer-reviewed general medical journal, published 48 times per year by the American Medical Association. JAMA is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world. . Fetal tissue transplants have reversed the ravages rav·age v. rav·aged, rav·ag·ing, rav·ages v.tr. 1. To bring heavy destruction on; devastate: A tornado ravaged the town. 2. of Parkinson's disease, a condition in which brain cells manufacturing dopamine dopamine (dōp`əmēn), one of the intermediate substances in the biosynthesis of epinephrine and norepinephrine. See catecholamine. dopamine One of the catecholamines, widely distributed in the central nervous system. die off (SN: 11/28/92, p.372). Yet researchers may never get enough of this precious tissue to meet the demand for such therapy. "We believe that the limited availability of fetal tissue will curtail transplantation procedures that require large amounts of fetal tissues," the authors say. |
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