Stem cell treatment for macula degeneration

Identifier:  TFG:3008

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TFG3008

Authors:  Senan Salinas, Ana

Abstract:
Macular degeneration is a disease of the macula based on the loss of the retinal pigment epithelium and photoreceptors and the appearance of drusen. This leads to loss of the central vision. It is a disease associated with age, therefore the probability of suffering it increase after the age of 50 years. The main causes are smoking, the age and genetic. In addition, there are two types of macular degeneration, dry and wet. The principal difference between them is that wet macular degeneration causes bleeding. Thus, there are different diagnostic techniques to diagnosis the two types of macular degeneration such as fluorescein angiography, autoflorescence, and different types of optical coherence tomography. Regarding the treatment of macular degeneration, there are many drugs under investigation, however the most promising is treatment with stem cells. Thereby, this review is about different essays in humans with different types of stem cells for treating the macular degeneration. The transplanted cells are retinal pigment epithelium cells derivated of diverse stem cells. Thus, pluripotent stem cells are studied with good results in security but no improvement in visual acuity. Also, some essays of stem cells from bone marrow are analysed, all with good results in security but with different results in visual acuity. In addition, stem cells from adipose tissue are studied but they have many adverse effects such as loss of vision. Furthermore, the stem cells with the best results in security and visual acuity are embryonic stem cells. However, these essays are with few patients, therefore it is needed more essays for obtain more results more significant.