A new therapy claims to help older women have better and more frequent orgasms and its success could well shed more light on a little known subject.

According to a newspaper report, there exists a therapy that helps older women have better and more frequent orgasms. Im not so sure about the way it is achieved, but, from what I could understand, it involves the patients own blood, from which high quality platelet rich plasma is derived. Such platelet rich plasma is used to treat many conditions such as vascular collapse, sepsis, and chronic liver disease. It has also been used to treat orthopedic conditions such as arthritis and plantar fasciitis, and various tendon affections. It has been dubbed the O shot. The Harley Street physician, who is selling it at 1,000 (Rs 90,000) a shot, claims to have treated over 2,000 females and claims he has achieved good results. He believes that as women age, they need help with their orgasms a lot like how we all need glasses as we grow older, apparently. Several women have taken this treatment to have better climaxes. Others use it for a sexual arousal disorder. The doctor claims that half the women experience immediate effects.

Strangely, in a world bombarded by medical research from innovations in stem cell therapy and cloning, we still know little about the female orgasm. The female orgasm is a sudden discharge of accumulated tension during sexual response, resulting in rhythmic muscular contraction in the pelvic region, and characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure. The orgasm is followed by a release of endorphins (joy hormones), oxytocin and prolactin, and the period after orgasm is known as the refractory period, after which the woman is capable of being stimulated again. Some studies suggest that climaxing during sex increases the chances of pregnancy.

No study on the orgasm is complete without referring to Masters and Johnsons pioneering work on the human orgasm. Female orgasms last about 20 seconds or so. The contractions may be different in different women, with a series of regular contractions at regular intervals. In some, regular contraction is followed by irregular contractions, and in a few, orgasms occur without contraction at all. The orgasms are often proceeded by clitoral errection and moistening of the vagina. At the onset of an orgasm, the outer part of the vagina tightens and narrows, and the overall vagina lengthens and dilates. Several studies of the brain have been done using a PET scanner during states of rest, sexual stimulation, faked orgasms and actual orgasm. It has been observed that parts of the brain that control fear and anxiety shut down with sexual stimulation. Stimulation of the clitoris also shows similar results on the brain. From the above, it may be reasonable to assume that sexual activity is an inherent part of health, and a study in the British Medical Journal on men between 45 to 59, with a 10-year follow up, tells us that men who have fewer orgasms are twice as likely to die of any cause. A study in 2001, which addressed the sexual aspects of cardiovascular health, also tells us those men having sex three or more times a week have a 50% reduction in the risk of heart attack or stroke.

Ten percent of women have never had an orgasm and 40-50% have complained about sexual dysfunction, according to Rod Plotnik in the Introduction to Psychology. Strangely, according to the Kinsey Institute, women are more likely to be orgasmic when alone than with a partner.

No discussion on female orgasm is complete without alluding to the legendary G spot. The G spot, also called the Grafenberg spot, is reported to be located 2 to 3 inches up the anterior wall of the vagina. Though many studies state that the existence of this has never been proven, some studies using ultrasound have seemingly found physiological evidence of this spot. So, claims about the O shot experience are good at present, and is said to improve the blood supply to the vagina. Time alone will tell us how successful this is.

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Making sex better with age - Mumbai Mirror

Researchers hope the first full-body PET scanner will be ready for action in 2018.

Robert Burnett and Simon Cherry/UC Davis

By Lindzi WesselMar. 17, 2017 , 10:45 AM

Injecting radioactive materials into your body might sound crazy, but its a useful tool for gaining snapshots of our physiology. Positron emission tomography (PET) uses radioactive particles to track the footprints of diseases like cancer and neurodegeneration. Now, researchers are working to build the worlds first full-body PET scanner, which they claim will increase our power to understand whats going on in our bodies through more vivid PET images and the opportunity to examine how the whole body responds to drugs and toxins.

The team published their first paper on early details of the project last month in Physics in Medicine and Biology and outline their ambitions for the scanner this week in Science Translational Medicine. Science checked in with Simon Cherry and Ramsey Badawi, two bioengineers at the University of California, Davis, leading the charge to build the scanner. They have dubbed their future machine EXPLORER, (EXtreme Performance LOng REsearch scanneR) and hope to run their first human subject by late 2018.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: What advantages does full-body PET have over traditional PET?

R.B.: Pretty much every PET scan that's ever been done in humans has been limited by the fact that there's not a huge amount of signal collected. This is because radiation is emitted in all directions, so it muddles the image.

S.C.: With the total-body scanner, we are surrounding the body with detectors, which stop that radiation and turn it into a signal. It gives us this huge boost. Now for the same radiation dose that we currently give, we collect a lot more signal. This also allows us to reduce the radiation dose. If we're happy with the signal that we currently have, we can instead reduce the dose by a factor of 40 and still get the same signal we would get on todays scanners.

Q: How much radiation are we talking about?

R.B.: In the latest calculations we did, we can get the dose down to the equivalent of flying from Los Angeles [California] to London and back.

Q: What else can we look at with a full-body scanner that we cant look at with a smaller one?

S.C.: Obviously when developing new treatments, pharmaceutical companies have a target of interest. But the problem when you get into human clinical trials is toxic side effects in other parts of the body. And so one thing that EXPLORER does that I think will be very exciting for drug development is that we can radioactively label that drug and watch where it goes in the body over time. We can see its concentration in every single tissue and organ in the body. Drug companies are very excited about that prospect, because it will allow them not just to ask, Is my drug reaching a tumor?"but How much is in the liver? for example. So it can help us identify the best drug candidates, and we can hopefully have fewer failures in clinical trials.

R.B.: Another area that were quite interested in is toxicology. For example, there are lots and lots of nanoparticles in our environments. You get them in lipstick, sunscreen, and all sorts of other sources. And their fate in the body is not totally clear. You could label some of these nanoparticles with [a long-lasting tracer] and we think with the increased sensitivity of EXPLORER, youd be able to image those nanoparticles throughout the body for maybe up to a month. That has never been done before.

S.C.: You could also do a similar thing with cell-based therapies, where you label a subset of immune cells or stem cells and then follow them for several weeks with PET to see what happens to them throughout the body.

Q: What are the remaining hurdles for getting this technology up and running?

S.C.: The first human [research] scans, we hope, will take place in late 2018. Clinical scans are another matter because you have to get FDA [Food and Drug Administration] approval for the device, and so its a little unknown how much longer that process will take. Another piece that we're working on right now is data handling and how we move massive amounts of data through the detectors and the electronics and off onto hard drives, how we then process that data into images, and how we store that data.

Q: How will the cost compare to one of todays scanners for patients and doctors?

S.C.: Thats a very difficult question to answer. The prototype we are building, this 2-meter-long device, is going to be, I would say, three to five times the price of a regular PET scanner. But thats very comparable to todays high-end MRI scanners.

R.B.: And youve always got to put cost in the context of benefit. If we get the extra-rich information that we think we're going to get, it may well be that were looking at a completely different way of doing PET scans, and then were talking about a very different business model.

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World's first full-body PET scanner could aid drug development, monitor environmental toxins - Science Magazine

March 17, 2017 by Joe Carlson, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

More than 600,000 times, researchers have cited Bio-Techne Corp. in academic papers as a manufacturer of tools that helped in their search for new tests and treatments.

The company, Minnesota's biggest biotech company, makes tiny bits of biology plus analytical machines and kits used in academic laboratories and pharmaceutical research and development labs worldwide. Its customers are trying to solve some of the most pressing questions in life sciences, from the vagaries of gene expression to drugs for cancer, autoimmune diseases and diabetes.

Now the dawn of the age of precision medicine therapies like cancer immunotherapy holds the potential for some of the company's most exciting and lucrative contributions to science.

Minneapolis-based Bio-Techne has gone on a bit of a tear in recent years, with revenue cresting at an all-time high of half a billion dollars last year and three analyst firms initiating coverage with optimistic outlooks since the start of 2017. An aggressive run of acquisitions and management changes since 2013 has come with new transparency and goal-setting, and analysts say the difference shows.

"We consider the company the top strategic asset in an increasingly target-poor life science tools industry," Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Dan Leonard wrote in January, placing a "buy" rating on Bio-Techne stock with a target price of $115 a share. The stock stood just under $107 as of market close Tuesday.

Bio-Techne has produced dependable wet-lab research tools for decades, which helps explain why so many University of Minnesota biology grads want to work there. Nearly a third of the company's workforce has a degree from the university.

Analysts like how Bio-Techne is growing, combining well-considered acquisition targets with the company's long-running reputation for producing top-quality raw proteins and antibodies for use in research.

In 2014, Bio-Techne paid $300 million to acquire a molecular diagnostics device company called ProteinSimple. That portfolio included a machine called Wes, which retails for about $60,000 and was the first device to automate the common - and commonly frustrating - research method called the Western Blot. The Wes requires higher-margin "consumable" Western Blot products, which are also sold by Bio-Techne.

"That's $60,000 in revenue, but after that, in order to operate the system (users) are going to need the cartridges," Leerink Partners analyst Puneet Souda said in an interview. "Once your installed base starts growing, that starts to drive your consumables. This is a very good consumables company, so we know they will execute well on that end. That's something I see as a major growth driver in the future."

Bio-Techne has set an ambitious goal of hitting $1 billion in annual revenue through a combination of internal innovation and well-curated acquisitions.

It recently launched its first entry in the veterinary products market: a test system for common pet parasites that contains the industry's only nontoxic biodegradable chemical preservative. The company has also made moves to expand its footprint in stem cell science, striking a new co-development and licensing agreement with a small biotech startup in Connecticut called MultiClonal Therapeutics.

Until a few years ago, the company was run by longtime CEO Thomas Oland, who smoked in the office, disdained travel budgets and refused to put a computer on his desk. Oland helped build a public company with a strong reputation for dependability and quality, but he never did a quarterly earnings call or a "roadshow" for investors.

Oland's conservative financial philosophy left the company with a full year and half worth of revenue sitting in the bank.

"You have to hand it to him - he had a huge hand in building this business. No question about that," said Struan Robertson, a vice president with the company. "But when you take a (CEO) in 2012 who doesn't have a computer on his desk because he doesn't really think you need them, and smokes in the building, you think, 'This is some old-school thinking.'"

A painful leadership succession was triggered in 2012, in which Oland resigned from the company earlier than expected, and his preferred internal candidate for CEO was bypassed in favor of former 3M executive Charles "Chuck" Kummeth, 56.

Oland, who has since passed away, warned shareholders in a public securities filing that turning to an outsider like Kummeth to become CEO would "put at risk all that we and our employees have built over the past 30 years."

The stock price has increased by 57 percent since Oland wrote those words in October 2012.

Since Kummeth became CEO in 2013, the company has brought in 12 new executives, completed acquisitions of nine companies, and grown annual revenue 60 percent, to $499 million in fiscal 2016. Adjusted profit grew 14 percent between 2013 and 2016, to $134 million.

Kummeth ran the company's first-ever quarterly earnings call, in 2013. In 2014, the company changed its brand name from Techne to Bio-Techne, reflecting its mission of serving the global biotech community. The name change was also needed because Kummeth discovered no one had ever registered the name "Techne" in the first place, he said.

"The funny thing about this company is, it's 40 years told, but the doors were locked to the public until I arrived," Kummeth said. "There was a lot of low-hanging fruit here to change to make some real quick impact. And the stock started moving pretty quickly."

That low-hanging fruit included getting everyone in the company a new computer and email address, and setting up a sophisticated public website to help academic researchers worldwide select among Bio-Techne's roughly 250,000 different products.

"In academia, there are 800,000-plus researchers in the world, and they all buy just a little bit every week. So you have to get to them via the web," Kummeth said.

He's being literal when he says a little bit. In some cases, products are sold in microgram quantities. "It's in a vial, and you can't even see the product. ... But it might cost $500. And it might run 20 experiments, worth millions of dollars. You don't know."

Sometimes researchers just need raw proteins or antibodies suspended in a vial that will trigger a reaction or transform in the presence of another molecule for their work. Other times, customers need an entire analysis kit that can glow in the presence of a specific protein.

Bio-Techne also makes "clinical control" products needed to calibrate hematology and blood-chemistry equipment in medical labs. And it sells instruments that analyze the purity and quantity of proteins and antibodies in a sample, which are required for makers of biologic drugs like vaccines and anti-inflammatory medications to meet strict regulatory controls.

In fiscal 2016 Bio-Techne introduced 1,600 new biotech products in the life sciences, most of which were used for research and therefore not required to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The company has spent 9 percent of its revenue on R & D for the past three years.

The result was 10 percent overall sales growth in 2016, and 6 percent organic growth in the fiscal year, which ended June 30.

"It is definitely a hard-to-scale business, which is why we are doing some of these acquisitions in instruments, to try to get some scale," Kummeth said. "You have to stay current, but you have you have to stay current at the level of thousands of products a year."

-

Bio-Techne at a glance

Headquarters: Minneapolis

NASDAQ stock ticker: TECH

Employees: About 1,700

Offices globally: 24

2016 revenue: $499 million

Market capitalization: $4.03 billion

Explore further: SAP misses 3Q profit forecasts, raises outlook slightly

2017 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

German business software company SAP SE on Friday reported third-quarter earnings of $814.6 million.

Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals said Wednesday it will buy eye surgery product maker Synergetics USA for as much as $192 million.

Apple's holiday season proved to be a letdown, even though the company sold a record number of iPhones and iPads during its latest quarter.

Printer maker Lexmark International will buy software developer Kofax Ltd. for about $1 billion.

Twitter has unsealed the documents for its planned initial public offering of stock and says it hopes to raise up to $1 billion in one of the year's most eagerly awaited stock market debuts.

Media conglomerate News Corp. says earnings for the last three months of 2012 grew, helped by higher revenue at its pay TV networks and gains from acquisitions.

Biologists who study the malaria mosquito's 'nose' have found that it contains a secondary set of odor sensors that seem to be specially tuned to detect humans. The discovery could aid efforts to figure out how the insects ...

Even plants have to live on an energy budget. While they're known for converting solar energy into chemical energy in the form of sugars, plants have sophisticated biochemical mechanisms for regulating how they spend that ...

Adolescence marks not only the period of physical maturation bridging childhood and adulthood, but also a crucial period for remodeling of the human brain. A Penn study reveals new patterns of coordinated development in the ...

(Phys.org)A trio of researchers from the U.K., the Netherlands and the U.S. has filmed a grown female chimpanzee cleaning her son's teeth after he died. In their paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, Edwin ...

It's a good thing we don't have to think about putting all the necessary pieces in place when one of our trillions of cells needs to duplicate its DNA and then divide to produce identical daughter cells.

Working with Scottish Bioenergy, the team found that by limiting all other wavelengths, the algae known more commonly as Spirulina will start to mass-produce the blue pigment when exposed to long wavelength red light.

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Biotech firm carves a large niche in tools for research - Phys.Org

March 13, 2017 6:01 PM By Stephanie Stahl

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine are conducting a study to see if stem cell therapy will ease the pain of arthritis and the results of their research could benefit human patients as well.

Its Zoeys last check up,walking on a special mat called a forceplate to measure how much weight she puts on each leg.

It was just a year ago that putting weight on her front legs was painful.The 2-year-old Golden Retriever was diagnosed with elbow dysplasia, a condition that created arthritis in both elbows.

It is the most common cause of chronic pain in dogs, saidDr. Kimberly Agnello at Penn Vet.

Zoeys owner, Christine Brown, says she was a bundle of energy when she first got Zoey.

She was so sweet, said Brown. She was your typical energetic puppy.

But soon Brown knew her dog was hurting.

After coming back from a walk and taking a nap, she would get up and limp, said Brown. With her being a puppy it was devastating.

Zoey was enrolled in aPenn Vet trial to determine the benefits of stem cell therapy as a treatment to ease arthritic pain.

They are randomized into three groups, whether they receive an interarticular joint injection of hyaluronic acid or they geteither stem cells derived from their bone marrow or stem cells derived from fat, saidAgnello.

The stems cells from the dogs bone marrow are injected back into the elbow joint. Doctors hope it will relieve the arthritic pain.

We also remove a little fragment of bone that can be causing some more pain, saidAgnello.

The research isnt just about arthritis in dogs but humans as well.

The goals of this study are to look for different treatments to not only help our canine patientsbut also to help human patients with arthritis, saidAgnello.

For now results are promising.

Oh my gosh, she is not limping, she runs and jumps, and has a great time, said Brown.

The trial is ongoing so there is no hard data yet to show final results if stem cells are effective for treating arthritis, but Dr.Agnello says there are many dogs in the study and almost all of them have improved during the year-long research.

Stephanie Stahl, CBS 3 and The CW Philly 57s Emmy Award-winning health reporter, is featured daily on Eyewitness News. As one of the television industrys most respected medical reporters, Stephanie has been recognized by community and he...

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Veterinary Doctors Conduct Study Looking To Ease Arthritis Pain - CBS Philly

About stem cell transplants

Stem cell transplant is a treatment to try to cure some types of cancer, such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. You have very high doses of chemotherapy, sometimes with whole body radiotherapy. This has a good chance of killing cancer cells but also kills the stem cells in the bone marrow. We need stem cells in order to make red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Doctors can collect stem cells from your blood or a donor's. After high dose treatment you have the stem cells into your vein through a drip.

You have injections of growth factors before, and sometimes after, the stem cell transplant. Growth factors are natural proteins that make the bone marrow produce blood cells. You have them as small injections under the skin for between 5 and 10 days. Sometimes you may have low doses of a chemotherapy drug too. The chemotherapy and growth factor injections help your bone marrow to make lots of stem cells. These stem cells then spill out of the bone marrow into the bloodstream, where they can be collected.

Collecting the stem cells takes 3 or 4 hours. You lie down on a couch. Your nurse puts a drip into each of your arms and attaches it to a machine. Your blood passes out of one drip, through the machine and back into your body through the other drip. The machine filters the stem cells out of your blood. The stem cells are frozen until you are ready to have them back.

If you have stem cells from another person, you will have blood tests and the donor will also have blood tests. These tests make sure that the donated stem cells closely match your own.

Cord blood transplants use stem cells taken from the umbilical cord after a baby is born. A lower volume of stem cells are collected and so these are often used for children needing a transplant. But it may be possible for adults to have stem cells from 2 umbilical cords (double cord transplant).

Mini transplants are also called reduced intensity conditioning transplants. They use lower doses of chemotherapy than a traditional stem cell transplant. So they are used if people are not fit or well enough for a standard transplant.

View a summary of the bone marrow and stem cell transplant section

Read more from the original source:
Stem cell transplants | Cancer Research UK

Do you have any tips for pet owners to help aging dogs?

We are fortunate that with advanced medical treatments, more balanced nutrition, and dedicated pet owners, dogs are living longer and happier lives.

Here are some suggestions for helping responsible pet owners keep their beloved dogs living a quality life:

1. Health checks: One of the best ways to stay on top of any potential health concerns is to schedule regular veterinary visits. Often by identifying certain health conditions early on there is a better chance of finding treatment options and improving a dogs survival.

I would recommend a veterinary examination at least every six months once your pet has reached his or her senior years, which on average is around 7 years of age depending on the breed of dog. Your veterinarian will want to carefully examine for any changes in heart or lung sounds, vision, mobility and temperature. He or she may perform tests such as senior bloodwork, urine tests and blood pressure readings.

2. Nutrition: Evaluation of your dogs diet is another important element in your dogs aging process. Aging animals may require different levels of fat and protein in their diet due to changes in their metabolic demands. Also depending on any underlying health conditions, such as kidney disease or diabetes, specific diet changes will be recommended by your veterinarian.

Several commercial dog foods are now formulated specifically for senior dogs and contain additional nutrients, such as glucosamine for arthritis or omega 3 and omega 6 to help with skin coat and to prevent cartilage degeneration.

Additionally, many companies have begun to formulate diets that aim to prevent a decline in cognitive dysfunction. Consult with your veterinarian to find the perfect diet tailored to suit your aging dog.

3. Alternative therapies: There are several alternatives therapies now available to our aging pets, including acupuncture, physical therapy, stem cell therapy and cold laser treatments.

Many arthritic pets have difficulty with joint pain and range of motion, which makes routine exercise very difficult. This population of dogs may greatly benefit from exercise on an underwater treadmill or in the pool, which would lessen the stress on their painful joints while helping to build or maintain muscle mass.

Cold laser treatments are a type of a noninvasive therapy that utilizes light to stimulate cell regeneration and increases blood circulation to an injured or arthritic region of the body.

4. Enrichment: The use of enrichment in your dogs life has shown to be beneficial in keeping them more active, mobile, and less anxious. Those dogs that are provided with interactive toys, playtime and walks have less chance of losing many of their cognitive abilities. Furthermore, active dogs are not as likely to gain weight as they age. Overweight or obese dogs are predisposed to health concerns such as diabetes, hypothyroidism and arthritis.

5. Environmental changes: A pet owner should be mindful that their aging pets are often more sensitive to temperature extremes. During the warmer months of the year it would be wise to keep your dog in an area of the house that is a comfortable temperature and ensure they have free access to water to prevent heatstroke.

During the colder months pets should spend limited time outside in the cooler temperatures, especially in the snow and ice. There are boots designed to aid your dog with slippery floors or on the icy ground to prevent potential injuries. Providing extra blankets, an orthopedic bed or placing your dogs bed in a warmer location of the house are all suggestions to help make your dog more comfortable.

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Caring for dogs as they age - Burlington County Times

Ive heard about stem cell therapy in dogs and cats. What is it?

Stem cells are unspecialized cells that are capable of renewing themselves though cell division. Under certain conditions, they can become a specific tissue or organ cell. In many tissues, stem cells serve as an internal repair system, replacing damaged or dead tissues by reproducing and turning into the needed cells. This type of repair is common in the gut and bone marrow, where stem cells routinely replace damaged tissues. In other organs such as the heart and pancreas, stem cells only divide under very special conditions. Because of this, certain tissues or organs are more likely to benefit from stem cell therapy than others.

Stem cell therapy is often referred to as regenerative medicine, a technique that enables the body to repair and regenerate damaged tissues.

Stem cell therapy commonly refers to the process of placing stem cells from the body into diseased or damaged tissues, such as a torn ligament in the knee or perhaps an arthritic joint. This process is often referred to as regenerative medicine, a technique that enables the body to repair and regenerate damaged tissues.

Stem cells can differentiate into blood vessel, bone, cardiac, cartilage, fat, ligament, liver, muscle, nerve, and tendon tissue. Stem cells can currently be obtained from the bone marrow and fat (adipose) tissue in dogs, cats, and horses.

The most common use of stem cell therapies has been in the treatment of osteoarthritis in dogs and cats. Other potential uses include repairing bone, ligament, and spinal cord injuries and treating kidney and liver disease, cardiomyopathies (a form of heart disease), and certain inflammatory diseases of the skin and gut. Although these other uses are largely hypothetical at this time, clinical research into the use of stem cells to treat these conditions is ongoing.

Cancer treatment with stem cells is not considered appropriate because of the risk of causing the cancer to worsen, grow, or spread more rapidly if stem cells are introduced.

After a definitive diagnosis of the condition has been determined and your pet has been selected as a suitable candidate, there are essentially three steps in stem cell therapy:

Other than rest and supportive measures, minimal special care is required after treatment.

Most cases will be performed as an out-patient procedure. Other than rest and supportive measures, minimal special care is required after treatment.

Because the stem cells are from your pet, there is little risk of reaction or rejection. Any injection into a joint or tendon involves some risk of inflammation, infection, or injury. Your veterinarian will discuss your pets specific risk factors with you before treatment.

The decision to use stem cell therapy is complicated. It is based on your pets specific condition, age, breed, previous treatment and response, severity and duration, and anesthesia/sedation risk. The laboratory providing the stem cells will also be consulted to help determine if your pet is a suitable candidate.

Unfortunately, there is currently no definitive way to predict which pets will benefit from stem cell therapy. Some patients respond favorably only to relapse in the future. Other patients experience remarkable improvement soon after treatment, while for others, it may take months for any appreciable changes to occur.

Some patients will show improvement within several days, while others will require several weeks before any changes are seen. It is important to note that not all patients treated with stem cells will respond positively. Stem cell therapy can be repeated in cases where poor to no improvement is observed.

See more here:
Stem Cell Therapy | VCA Animal Hospital

Dr Bob Harman

Poway, CA (PRWEB) March 08, 2017

Dr. Harman has been a long time attendee and frequent speaker at the Veterinary Orthopedic Society Conference. The opportunity to speak at such a prestigious conference and to present our new data is very exciting. It further reinforces our scientific and educational contributions to the field of regenerative medicine over the past 14 years. We were here at the birth of this industry, have worked with FDA for many years, and intend to provide evidenced-based products for many years to come, stated Dr. Harman.

The Veterinary Orthopedic Society exists to provide an environment where persons engaged in the practice, teaching, or research in the area of orthopedics can present and discuss items of common interest, to further scientific investigation, and to upgrade the specialty of orthopedics in order to provide better patient care. The conference will be in Snowbird, Utah March 11th through the 18th. Dr. Harman will present VetStems findings on the study Allogeneic Stem Cell Survival and Localization after Intraarticular Administration. VetStem has a licensing agreement with Aratana Therapeutics for this study. VetStem has always held the belief that scientific evidence, continuing education, and regulatory guidance are the foundation of developing any new technology. The field of veterinary regenerative medicine will progress by the scientific study of the mechanisms of action of stem cells. This particular study evaluated the systemic bio-distribution of allogeneic adipose stem cells following intra-articular administration in beagle dogs.

In 2015, VetStem (now VetStem Biopharma) announced the completion and peer-reviewed publication of a pilot efficacy study for allogeneic stem cell therapy (93 dogs, multi-center, blinded, placebo controlled) in support of an FDA INADA. The primary end point for stem cell treated dogs was statistically significantly improved as compared to placebo dogs. VetStem also entered into a distribution and clinical research agreement with Pall LifeSciences on the V-PETTM platelet enhancement therapy system. The V-PET is supported by a JAVMA peer reviewed publication of a two center, double-blinded, randomized study in osteoarthritis in dogs.

VetStem is developing multiple stem cell products for FDA-approval in order to provide therapeutic solutions for difficult-to-treat medical conditions in the dog, cat and horse.

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VetStem Biopharma, Inc. Founder and CEO, Dr. Robert Harman, will ... - PR Web (press release)

February 28, 2017 08:30 ET | Source: International Stem Cell Corporation

CARLSBAD, Calif., Feb. 28, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- International Stem Cell Corporation (OTCQB:ISCO), a California-based clinical stage biotechnology company developing stem cell-based therapies and biomedical products, today announced the third patient in the clinical trial for Parkinson's Disease was successfully transplanted with ISC-hpNSCcells and is already discharged from the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH). The operation was successfully performed without complications by the team of the RMH neurosurgeons.

Russell Kern, PhD, executive vice president and chief scientific officer of ISCO commented: "The third operation went according to plan and we are on track to dosing all of our clinical trial participants in 2017. We have enrolled the fourth patient and we expect to perform the surgery in March. No test article related adverse events have been recorded for any of the patients transplanted in 2016.

About the clinical study

The Phase I clinical study is a dose escalation safety and preliminary efficacy study of ISC-hpNSC, intracranially transplanted into patients with moderate to severe Parkinson's disease. The open-label, single center, uncontrolled clinical trial will evaluate three different dose regimens of 30,000,000 to 70,000,000 neural cells. A total of 12 participants with moderate to severe Parkinson's disease will be treated. Following transplantation, the patients will be monitored for 12 months at specified intervals, to evaluate the safety and biologic activity of ISC-hpNSC. PET scan will be performed at baseline, as part of the screening assessment, and at 6 and 12 months after surgical intervention. Clinical responses compared to baseline after the administration of ISC-hpNSCwill be evaluated using various neurological assessments such as Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Hoehn and Yahr and other rating scales.

About Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system mainly affecting the motor system. The motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease result from the death of dopamine-generating cells in the substantia nigra, a region of the midbrain. Early in the course of the disease, the most obvious symptoms are movement-related; these symptoms include shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and difficulty with walking and gait. Later, thinking and behavioral problems may arise, with dementia commonly occurring in the advanced stages of the disease, and depression is the most common psychiatric symptom. Parkinson's disease is more common in older people, with most cases occurring after the age of 50.

Currently, medications typically used in the treatment of Parkinson's, L-DOPA and dopamine agonists, improve the early symptoms of the disease. As the disease progresses and dopaminergic neurons continue to be lost, the drugs eventually become ineffective while at the same time frequently producing a complication marked by involuntary writhing movements. In 2013 PD resulted in about 103,000 deaths globally, up from 44,000 deaths in 1990.

About ISC-hpNSC

International Stem Cell Corporation's proprietary ISC-hpNSCconsists of a highly pure population of neural stem cells derived from human parthenogenetic stem cells. ISC-hpNSCis a suspension of clinical grade cells manufactured under cGMP conditions that have undergone stringent quality control measures and are clear of any microbial and viral contaminants. Preclinical studies in rodents and non-human primates have shown improvement in Parkinson's disease symptoms and increase in brain dopamine levels following the intracranial administration of ISC-hpNSC. ISC-hpNSCprovides neurotrophic support and cell replacement to the dying dopaminergic neurons of the recipient PD brain. Additionally, ISC-hpNSCis safe, well tolerated and does not cause adverse events such as dyskinesia, systemic toxicity or tumors in preclinical models. International Stem Cell Corporation believes that ISC-hpNSCmay have broad therapeutic applications for many neurological diseases affecting the brain, the spinal cord and the eye.

About International Stem Cell Corporation

International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO) is focused on the therapeutic applications of human parthenogenetic stem cells (hpSCs) and the development and commercialization of cell-based research and cosmetic products. ISCO's core technology, parthenogenesis, results in the creation of human pluripotent stem cells from unfertilized oocytes (eggs). hpSCs avoid ethical issues associated with the use or destruction of viable human embryos. ISCO scientists have created the first parthenogenetic, homozygous stem cell line that can be a source of therapeutic cells for millions of individuals of differing genders, ages and racial background with minimal immune rejection after transplantation. hpSCs offer the potential to create the first true stem cell bank, UniStemCell. ISCO also produces and markets specialized cells and growth media for therapeutic research worldwide through its subsidiary Lifeline Cell Technology (www.lifelinecelltech.com), and stem cell-based skin care products through its subsidiary Lifeline Skin Care (www.lifelineskincare.com). More information is available atwww.internationalstemcell.com.

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Statements pertaining to anticipated developments, expected results and timing of clinical studies, progress of research and development initiatives, and other opportunities for the company and its subsidiaries, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as "will," "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates,") should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential products, regulatory approvals, need and ability to obtain future capital, application of capital resources among competing uses, and maintenance of intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the company's business, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements.

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International Stem Cell Corporation Announces Third Patient with Parkinson's Disease in Phase I Clinical Trial - GlobeNewswire (press release)

Humans can have a lot in common with their animal companions, and in the case of horses, even similar injuries and rehabilitation.

Lauren Schnabel, an assistant professor and equine orthopedic surgeon, works on research involving regenerative therapies for treating musculoskeletal disorders in horses. In particular, mesenchyme stem cells (MSCs) are being investigated as a therapy.

The main focus of the lab is investigating regenerative therapies or biologic therapies for treating musculoskeletal injuries, and a main interest that we focus on is really tendon injuries, Schnabel said. That also includes ligament and other joint problems.

A goal of the lab is to develop therapies that benefit horses, especially high-level athletic horses, according to Schnabel. Still, the lab wants to make sure that a pet horse is just as comfortable if its suffering from an injury.

Horse injuries like meniscal and tendon injuries are similar in humans, so the horses in the research can possibly be used as a model for human treatments.

With that angle from the horse as an athlete, the other main focus of the lab is really using the horse as a translational model for human health, Schnabel said.

Horses serve as a great orthopedic model for humans, according to Schnabel. They go through a lot of the same surgeries and rehabilitation protocols as humans do.

For horses, most of the research is currently concentrated on improving treatments for musculoskeletal diseases, like tendonitis and osteoarthritis, said Alix Berglund, a graduate research assistant working with Schnabel. Musculoskeletal diseases are also an important issue in human medicine, especially in athletes.

As part of the veterinary medicine field, the lab has an advantage of trying a lot more regenerative therapies that include the use of stem cells, according to Schnabel. Stem cell therapies for treating horse injuries are still being refined and researched by the lab.

Usually, the way we get stem cells from a horse is from their bone marrow in their sternum and then you have to grow the cells for a couple of weeks, so its usually like two to three weeks, Schnabel said.

Stem cells that are off the shelf would be ideal in treating horses.

One of the long-term-goals of our lab is to develop ways to use MSCs in an off-the-shelf manner, Berglund said. This means that a horse could receive MSCs from a donor at the time of injury or diagnosis of disease instead of waiting weeks until their own cells can be cultured and expanded for use.

It was initially thought that stem cells wouldnt cause an immune reaction due to how they deregulate immune responses, according to Schnabel. If stem cells from one horse are given to a mismatched horse, then the cells are recognized by the immune system and are targeted for death. This is why the horses used in the lab are immune haplotypes, meaning they can have matched or mismatched stem cell treatments.

If theyre getting targeted for death quickly, then theyre probably not going to be as effective. We spent a lot of time showing that was true, because thats been debated in the literature for a long time, Schnabel said. Then now were trying to control the immunogenicity of the stem cells so that we could use them in an off-the-shelf way.

Tendon injuries generally heal slowly and have scar tissue, and the re-injury rate is high in both horses and humans. Horses, especially racehorses, injure their superficial digital flexor tendons and when they do that, they have a 60 to 70 percent chance of reinjuring that same tendon, according to Schnabel.

Its devastating for any horse, especially an athlete. A racehorse has from [age] two to five to compete. Its super limited time and three years old is the big year, four year old sort of, and two years old is when theyre prepping, Schnabel said. It roughly takes about six months to 12 months for a tendon injury to heal. That almost completely takes them out of being a successful racehorse, and you can imagine if they get through that, they run one or two races and they re-injure the same tendon, then it's really devastating and the same for [event] horses.

The research team continues to investigate how to make tendon injuries heal with normal tissue and with good fiber alignment to prevent re-injury. While humans and horses share similar experiences with injuries, the future could hold shared treatments that also benefit both.

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NC State professor researches regenerative therapies for horses - N.C. State University Technician Online