Clinical trials with stem cells to treat effects of COVID-19 in the lungs advance
Dr. Odalis María de la Guardia Peña, an expert immunologist, describes as “encouraging” preliminary findings obtained at the conclusion of the first phase of clinical trials evaluating the use of stem cells in patients facing lung damage caused by COVID-19
Author: Walkiria Juanes Sánchez | internet@granma.cu
october 8, 2020 12:10:54
Photo composition: Claudia García Martínez
Dr. Odalis María de la Guardia Peña, an expert immunologist, describes as “encouraging” preliminary findings obtained at the conclusion of the first phase of clinical trials evaluating the use of stem cells in patients facing lung damage caused by COVID-19.
The study, begun during the month of May at the Cuban Institute of Hematology and Immunology (IHI), was undertaken with a view toward eliminating or reducing interstitial inflammatory or fibrotic lung lesions following the infection.
The doctor, also an infectious disease specialist and head of External Services at the IHI, explains that the research will have significant impact “if, as we hope, stem cell therapy produces positive results in these patients with pulmonary alterations post-COVID-19.
“If the treatment is effective, it will be generalized across the entire country, improving the quality of life and respiratory capacity of these patients,” she stated with the enthusiasm of someone devoted to the most important mission in the world: saving lives.
THE LUNG, THE “TARGET” ORGAN
De la Guardia Peña commented that, although SARS-COV-2 has a variety of dissimilar effects (cardiovascular, renal, cerebral, vascular, in distal or lower limbs, and others); the “target” organ in the case of COVID-19 is the lung, in which patients experience the most serious impact, both during the disease and once they have recovered, a pattern being studied internationally.
“We have detected cases, specifically in Cuban patients, who have presented this kind of affectation, especially those who have suffered symptoms over a longer period. Among those visited for the study, there were cases of important pulmonary alterations, which is the most frequent, but perhaps not the most serious,” the specialist continued. Continue reading Clinical trials with stem cells to treat effects of COVID-19 in the lungs
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