The Effectiveness of Selective Stem Cell Placement on Gait Performance in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: a Phase I Clinical Trial

Abstract

This report describes a Phase I clinical trial of a novel selective stem cell placement (SSCP) protocol using autologous bone marrow mononuclear stem cells (BM-MNSCs) to treat patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) with post-operative functional changes measured by gait performance. Previous studies have demonstrated that clinically significant gait deviations occur at all stages of MS that involve walking. Consequently, to determine the functional benefit of SSCP, the timed 25-foot walk (T25FW) was administered to 31 MS patients before and after treatment. The time and number of steps taken to complete the test significantly decreased post-intervention. This suggests that recovery of function in MS patients is possible and that SSCP using BM-MNSCs should be considered for future clinical trials as a possible treatment for MS. Study limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.