Stem cell subset shows promise for preventing amputation

Editor's Note

Researchers have discovered a new way to prompt blood vessel growth and prevent amputations in diseases such as diabetes and peripheral arterial disease. Findings were published December 19 in Cell Reports Medicine. 

The study consisted of an in-depth examination of two patients involved in a clinical trial who managed to avoid the need for amputation, despite seeming to require the procedure. Both received a mix of stem cells from their own tissues to treat foot ulcers, and both received high numbers of CD271-positive stem cells. Stem cells carrying the cell surface marker CD271 outperformed other cells at inducing blood vessel formation and rescued the patients’ limbs, researchers report.  

Researchers tested the theory in mice, transplanting human stem cells, and found that the treatment rescued limbs that would have otherwise needed to be amputated. 

Some 2 million people live with an amputation, and 185,000 amputations occur every year, more than half of which result from vascular diseases like diabetes. Researchers say these findings show promise for a new means to prevent amputation in patients with peripheral arterial disease and undertreated diabetes, and they plan to conduct additional testing.