用干細(xì)胞讓失明者恢復(fù)視覺(jué)

A man who lost sight in one eye in a fight 15 years ago has had his vision restored by British scientists using stem cells.

一名男子的一只眼睛在15年前的一次打斗中失明，近期英國(guó)科學(xué)家利用干細(xì)胞幫助他恢復(fù)了視覺(jué)。

The treatment, which has been developed at Newcastle University, could help thousands of people who suffer severely impaired vision through a condition known as Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency. The condition is caused by damage to the surface of the cornea from disease, chemical burning or physical injury.

紐卡斯?fàn)柎髮W(xué)(Newcastle University)研究出來(lái)的這一療法，可幫助數(shù)以千計(jì)因“角膜緣干細(xì)胞缺損”(LSCD)而導(dǎo)致視力嚴(yán)重受損的人。角膜緣干細(xì)胞缺損的原因包括疾病、化學(xué)性灼傷或物理傷害造成的角膜表面受損。

Russell Turnbull, whose right eye was burned in an ammonia attack after he intervened in the fight on a bus, is one of eight patients who have undergone the stem cell treatment. He said: “This has transformed my life . . . I'm working, I can go jet skiing and also ride horses.

羅素·特恩布爾(Russell Turnbull)是八名接受干細(xì)胞治療的病人之一，他在調(diào)停一起公共汽車上的打斗事件時(shí)，右眼被氨灼傷。他說(shuō)：“治療改變了我的生活……現(xiàn)在我可以去工作，可以去滑雪，還可以騎馬。”

“The operation has improved the sight in my right eye from 10 per cent to 90 per cent. Best of all it has removed the constant pain and light sensitivity.”

“手術(shù)將我右眼的視覺(jué)從10%提高到了90%。最棒的是，它消除了持續(xù)疼痛和對(duì)光敏感的問(wèn)題。”

Stem cell research with embryos has long been controversial, but this technique uses a patient's own cells. The Newcastle team took a small biopsy from the cornea of Mr Turnbull's good eye and multiplied its stem cells by 400 times. When the cells were transplanted back into the damaged eye, they restored the cornea.

胚胎干細(xì)胞研究一直處于爭(zhēng)議之中，但這種療法使用的是患者自身的細(xì)胞。紐卡斯?fàn)柕难芯繄F(tuán)隊(duì)從特恩布爾健康眼睛的角膜上攝取了一個(gè)小組織切片，然后培養(yǎng)出400倍數(shù)量的干細(xì)胞。當(dāng)這些細(xì)胞被移植到受損的眼睛后，它們修復(fù)了角膜。

Sajjad Ahmad, the scientist who developed the technique, said its success showed the scope for using the patient's own stem cells to treat the eye. Details are published in the journal Stem Cells. However, the technique depends on having a healthy eye from which to extract stem cells and is not suitable for retinal problems such as macular degeneration.

開(kāi)發(fā)出這項(xiàng)技術(shù)的科學(xué)家薩賈德·艾哈邁德(Sajjad Ahmad)表示，手術(shù)成功表明了利用患者自身干細(xì)胞治療眼科疾病的空間。關(guān)于本次手術(shù)的詳細(xì)資料已發(fā)表在《干細(xì)胞》(Stem Cells)刊物上。然而，這項(xiàng)技術(shù)依賴于患者擁有一只健康眼睛，以便從中提取干細(xì)胞，而不適合視網(wǎng)膜黃斑變性等視網(wǎng)膜疾病的病人。

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