Nearly everyone has heard about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, more commonly called AIDS, and a growing number of people know about autoimmune diseases and disorders, but few know that there are also immune deficiencies that are connected with other conditions or that arise from cancer and cancer treatments. Stem cell therapies offer a number of treatments that can help restore the body’s immune system.
Treatments to Boost the Immune System
Treatment of immune deficiencies often includes therapies that are meant to boost the immune system. Some of these, such as immunoglobulin therapy, which is used to treat people with antibody deficiencies, are meant to treat specific types of deficiencies. Others are more generalized. Gamma Interferon therapy, for example, is used to treat chronic granulomatous disease, one type of primary immunodeficiency. Growth factor injections can help increase white blood cells in cases where the immune system does not produce enough of them.
Any or all of these treatments may be used in conjunction with stem cell transplants.
Stem Cell Transplantation for Primary Immune Deficiencies
Stem cell transplantation can provide a permanent cure for some types of immunodeficiency. The procedure uses stem cells harvested from a close biological match to the patient with the compromised immune system. They can be harvested from bone marrow or obtained through cord blood. Stem cell transplants don’t always work, as there is always the risk that the body will reject the transplanted stem cells. In addition, the procedure often requires that any functioning immune cells be destroyed before the transplant, which can leave the patient temporarily more vulnerable to infection.
Future Possibilities
The past few years have brought a number of exciting developments in the area of stem cell research and gene research. One of the most far-reaching of these discoveries was the ability to “regress” adult stem cells to a pluripotent state – that is, to the same state as embryonic stem cells, before any differentiation has taken place. These induced pluripotent stem cells – iPSCs – have the potential to become any type of cell needed by the body. This technique, coupled with stem cells taken from the patient’s own body, could eventually allow for customized cures for immune deficiencies and many other diseases.
Current Alternative Therapies
Stem cell therapies that use adipose-derived stem cells – those extracted from the patient’s own fat – may help boost the immune system and replenish flagging supplies of immune system factors. These therapies are available at a number of clinics and hospitals around the world.