The first experimental intervention for the treatment of advanced dry macular degeneration was performed at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda (USA).
The procedure involves treating the eye through the application of a flap of tissue obtained from the blood cells extracted from the patient and made to evolve into retinal cells.
"Maculopathies can be divided into two classes: the wet form, for which we now have effective drugs, and the dry form, which is the most frequent and for which there are no treatments capable of avoiding the worsening of the disease", explains all. ANSA Stanislao Rizzo, director of the Ophthalmology Complex Operating Unit of the Gemelli Polyclinic and member of the board of directors of the Italian Society of Ophthalmological Sciences (SISO).
The experimentation concerns this type of macular degeneration.
The procedure is the result of a long research path that has already given positive results in animal models and involves the use of so-called induced pluripotent stem cells.
"They take the patient's blood cells and transform them into pluripotent stem cells, the so-called Ips, which have the potential to transform into cells of the retinal pigment epithelium," continues Rizzo.
At that point they are made to multiply until they make a flap of tissue that is implanted in the retina.
The experimentation is in its infancy (in phase I-II).
"The objective of this phase is to observe the safety of the plant", explains the expert.
"Once this is done, we will move on to the next phase of the experimentation", explains Rizzo, who specifies that the possible clinical applications of this research will be available in years.
"At the moment, a lot of work is being done in this field all over the world," says the specialist.
"At Gemelli, for example, we are about to begin the experimentation on a tropic factor that wants to prevent the retinal cells from undergoing the irreversible degeneration process that characterizes maculopathy. Also in this case, we will have to wait for results", concludes Rizzo.