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Hypoxic / Anoxic Injury

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Hypoxic / Anoxic Injury

HAI is an amalgamation of two different types of insults to the brain.

While a hypoxic injury is characterised as a partial lack of oxygen to the brain, an anoxic injury is caused by a total lack of oxygen. Anemic injury can occur when blood cells fail to carry enough oxygen to the brain. Lung diseases, carbon monoxide poisoning or an acute hemorrhage can cause this type of injury. Toxic injury, as the name suggests, happens when toxins hampers the brain’s ability to derive oxygen. Carbon monoxide poisoning, smoke inhalation and drug overdoses are the most common cause of this type of damage. Stagnant injury occurs when a condition inside the body, such as a stroke, arrhythmia, meningitis, very low blood pressure or a heart attack, deprives the brain of oxygen. Finally, apoxia is the result of a lack of oxygen in the air such as at higher altitudes.

Other events such as suffocation, choking, strangulation, a severe asthma attack, near drowning and electric shock can also cause this kind of injury.

Oxygen and blood are food for the brain. They are critical in order for the brain to perform normal biochemical processes. After just four minutes without oxygen, neurons begin to die. This begins a cascade effects whereby lesions form, tissues die and capillaries – the blood and oxygen delivery system of the brain – and neural pathways begin to disintegrate ultimately leading to paralysis of some kind. 

 

How Our Products Can Treat Hypoxic-Anoxic Brain Injury

We use products derived from human baby umbilical cord tissues in all our therapy programs - Wharton's Jelly MSCs (wjMSCs). The human brain is strictly regulated by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This is a semipermeable endothelial membrane that separates blood from cerebrospinal fluid. It is a highly selective mechanism that allows only a select few types of cells, particles and molecules enter the brain. Our products are special because they can:

  • cross the endothelial brain barrier [1,2,3,4].
  • migrate to sites of injury (chemotaxis) [5,6].
  • communicate with and alter nearby cells (paracrine effect) [7,8,9].
  • encourage existing cells to self-repair (autocrine effect) [9,10,11].
  • prevent rejection by regulating the immune system (immunomodulation) [5,6,12,13,14,15,16,17,18].
  • reduce inflammation [6,17,18,19,20,21,23].
  • prevent cells from dying (apoptosis) [5,6,8,19,24,30].
  • transform into neurons and glia [20,24,25,26,27,28].
  • promote the formation of nerve cell axons (axogenesis) [21,22].
  • promote the formation of neurons and astrocytes (neurogenesis) [30].
  • incapable of forming tumours [5,14,15,29].
  • release neuroprotective factors [8,30].
  • encourage existing cells to adapt (neuroplasticity) [31,32,33].
  • survive and differentiate in low oxygen environments [34,35,36,37,38].

 

Treating Hypoxic-Anoxic Brain Injury

When injury occurs to the brain, it leaves certain parts oxygen-deprived making the environment hostile to the survival of cells. Experiments have been conducted to see the effects of different levels of oxygen on MSC performance. In these experiments, MSCs were allowed to differentiate under normoxic and hypoxic conditions.

  • Normoxia: 10 to 21% oxygen [39].
  • Hypoxia: 1 to 5% oxygen [39].

Astonishingly, numerous experiments systematically found that wjMSCs survived as well as differentiated better and faster under hypoxic conditions [34,35,36,37,38]. This would indicate that wjMSCs are ideal in the treatment of hypoxic-anoxic brain injury.

In 2011, the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Italy, was able to prove that MSCs from umbilical cord blood (ucbMSCs) stimulated the injured brain and evoked trophic events such as microglia/macrophage phenotypical switch and glial scar inhibition. This in turn brought about significant sensorimotor improvement, improved learning ability and healed brain lesions [40].

Zhang 24 Researchers from Nantong University, China transplanted ucbMSCs into rat models of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). It was observed that MSCs were able to decrease gliosis and differentiate into neurons. The 2014 study found that MSCs further enhanced recovery and were able to improve behavioral, locomotor and neurological function [24].

Hebei Medical University conducted a 6-month long clinical trial with a total of 22 patients. In 2016, 12 patients were given intravenous infusions of wjMSCs while 10 were given placebo therapy. Patients who received MSC therapy experienced better recovery of neurological function, cognition ability, emotional reaction and extrapyramidal (motor) function [41].

A 2018 study by Sungkyunkwan University and Samsung Medical Center, South Korea, found that ucbMSCs were able to improve sensorimotor function and cerebral ventricular dilatation in Escherichia coli meningitis in newborn rats while reducing brain cell death, reactive gliosis and inflammatory responses. This proved that MSCs were able to survive in a high inflamed neurological environment [42].

In 2018, a Turkish study revealed the effects of wjMSCs transplantation combined with neurorehabilitation and physiotherapy in a 16-year-old male with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Pre-treatment his motor score was 20 and his cognitive score was seven. Treatment was administered intrathecally, intramuscularly and intravenously four times over the course of two months. The patient showed marked improvement merely one week after the first transplantation session.  Four months after the first transplantation, the patient’s motor score increased from 20 to 89 (maximum score of 91) and cognitive score increased from 7 to 31 (maximum score of 35) [43].

 

Cyrona’s Program

Achieving high standards in our work is of paramount importance to us. Depending on a patient’s needs, we combine our premium grade Passage 2 wjMSCs with physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and/or rehabilitative medicine. 

Learn more about our Products and Programs.

 

Why Choose Cyrona?

  • Latest cellular research and technology.
  • Unique, tailored therapy outlines.
  • Products that meet international standards.
  • Microbiology & clinical team with extensive experience in advanced medicine.
  • Board-certified physicians geared towards patient safety.
  • Fact-based information from clinical studies and trials.
  • No outlandish promises of a one-stop-cure or false improvement rates.

 

Therapy Packages

All our therapy packages come inclusive of:

 

INTERNATIONAL PATIENTS

  • Premium grade Passage 2 wjMSCs.
  • Treatment by qualified specialist(s).
  • Certificate of Analysis (CoA).
  • Airport transfer.
  • Transportation to & from therapy session(s).
  • Accommodation.
  • Hospital room for therapy.

 

LOCAL PATIENTS

  • Premium grade Passage 2 wjMSCs.
  • Treatment by qualified specialist(s).
  • Certificate of Analysis (CoA).
  • Transportation to & from therapy session(s).
  • Hospital room for therapy.

 

How Do We Proceed

All our therapies are charged based on the number of wjMSCs and supplementary infusions required for the patient’s specific condition. As no two people are alike, our specialists review each patient’s medical reports before tailoring a therapy catered to addressing his or her individual needs.

You may chat with one of our Customer Care Representatives or send an e-mail detailing the patient’s condition to one of our Liaison Officers. It would expedite the process if you can provide us with:

  • Imaging results (MRI scan / CT scan / X-Ray).
  • Hematology reports (blood test).
  • Doctor’s assessment reports.
  • Pictures or videos of the patient (if relevant).

Upon getting in touch with us, a Liaison Officer evaluates and assigns the case to the specialist best equipped to treat the condition. A therapy, unique only to the patient, is drawn up and a price quoted accordingly.

Should you decide to proceed with therapy, our specialists require that all patients have Cancer Marker Screening performed in their country of residence before travelling to us for therapy. If the patient has had Cancer Marker Screening within the last 3 months, you may e-mail those results to us. In the event that the patient’s Cancer Marker Screening results are not satisfactory, our specialists will refuse to proceed with therapy. It is for this reason that we requests that patients have Cancer Marker Screening performed in their country of residence prior to travelling to us.

One week prior to arrival, a deposit payment is required in order to arrange accommodation and transportation.

Full payment is required to be made one-day prior to therapy commencement.

Post-treatment, our specialist will provide the patient with a post-treatment protocol as well as what to expect on his or her journey towards a better, and hopefully, healthier new life.

 

Kindly get in touch with us for the sources listed throughout this article.

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