MSA is a member of Synuclein disease family. There is a series of symptoms associated with clinical pathological change which includes OPCA (oliva-pons-cerebella atrophy), sporadic degeneration of the nigrostriatal system, accompanied with vegetative nerve functional disturbance: Parkinson´´s symptoms (tremors, rigidity, walking difficulty); vegetative nerve functional damage (it is related to the loss of lateral horn cells and brain stem pigment group cells. The clinical symptoms are orthostatic hypotension, swoon, impotence, adiapneustia, thirst, urinary retention,fecal incontinence. In general, paralysis of the vocal cords is the most important and earliest symptom of vegetative nerve functional disturbance, (patient always experiences hoarseness); cerebella symptoms and pyramidal signs. The symptoms will be different for every patient, so in 1969, Dr. Graham and Dr. Oppenheimer proposed naming this complicated disease MSA. But currently doctors still cannot find an effective solution.
MSA is a kind of neurodegenerative disorder, through the causal mechanisms research performed on the molecular level; we can see that the amyloidal change of the CNS lead by the aggregation and aggradation of malconstructed protein is the most important mechanism. That means in the affected neurons, and in the spongiocyte cells, those high soluble proteins can turn into insoluble fibrous polymers, which can transfer into fibrous amyloid deposits which will deposit in the endochylema, cell nucleus and the spatium of extracellulars. These degenerated proteins/ polymers have great neurotoxicity, and they can lead to the damage and death of neurons.
According to recent research, neural stem cells can improve the patient´´s vegetative nerve, cerebellar extrapyramidal symptoms and movement disturbances effectively. On the one side, these stem cells (neural stem cells and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells) have a complicated and elaborate self controlling system; they can prevent the protein´´s malconstruction and aggregation: molecular chaperone can help the proper protein folding, and prevent the accumulation of non-natural proteins. We can use medication to accelerate the degradation of these malconstructed proteins and endocytose through the ubiquitin-protease bodies system. It can block the development of the disease effectively. On another side, these stem cells can locate in the damaged area of the neural system, repair the damage and help the patient regain more neural functioning.
For these cases, we have a comprehensive treatment for the patient:
1. Improve the internal microenvironment.
2. Stem cells implantation and treatment to help these stem cells locate in the damaged area.
3. Rebuild the neural system; improve the patient´´s neural functioning.
After the 3 steps of treatment were completed, the patient´´s condition had obvious improvements. In general, the MSA patient will still have nonreversible neurodegeneration, while the treatment results showed that neural stem cells implantation treatment can be effective for MSA patients. Now we still need further observation and randomized controlled research to verify our findings. |
