United States.- The combination of two medications such as Viagra and the Plerixafor immunostimulant quickly and efficiently mobilizes blood stem cells from the bone marrow to the bloodstream in mice, according to an article published Thursday by Stem Cell Reports
This strategy is almost as effective as the standard protocol currently available for the mobilization of hematopoietic or blood stem cells, which are immature cells that can be converted into all types of blood cells such as white, red and platelet cells.
Rodent experiments open the way to test the use of both compounds, which are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. (FDA) in humans for transplant therapies.
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And if it is shown that it is safe for clinical studies in humans "doctors could consider these findings when selecting treatment strategies for their patients and for voluntary donors of hematopoietic stem cells used in transplant therapies," said the Lead author of the study, Camilla Forsberg, of the University of California (USA).
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, which replaces abnormal stem cells in the formation of blood with healthy ones, is a treatment used for various diseases.
This procedure involves mobilizing blood stem cells from the bone marrow to the bloodstream and then using them for a transplant, either in the same person or in another recipient.
However, this strategy has its limitations, so that therapies with this type of stem cells are reserved for patients with malignant diseases or who have already exhausted all existing treatments.
Currently the standard protocol for the mobilization of hematopoietic and progenitor stem cells consists of injections for several days of the granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), which is expensive and has side effects such as nausea, fatigue and pain. bones and that often does not offer results in cancer patients.
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Another medicine that mobilizes hematopoietic stem cells is Plerixafor, but it is not very effective if it is used as a single agent.
Experiments in the Forsberg laboratory showed that an increase in blood vessel permeability helps to mobilize that kind of cells from the bone marrow to the bloodstream.
On that basis they tested whether Viagra, a vasodilator, could be a viable option for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, but found that it alone was not affective.
The scientists found that a combination of that compound with Plerixafor in the mice produced about 2,500 more hematopoietic stem cells in the bloodstream in two hours, which multiplied its presence by 7.5 compared to control mice.
Three days of Viagra given orally with an injection of Plerixafor was slightly more effective, resulting in some 2,800 stem cells of that type, which multiplied them by 8.4; and after four days the number reached 3,400.
