Multi-potent stem cells in fat tissue

Teams led by Christian Dani, a researcher at INSERM (French National Institute for Health and Medical Research) and director of the "Stem Cells and Differentiation" laboratory, and Gérard Ailhaud of UMR 6543 CNRS (Institute of Signalling, Development Biology and Cancer) have succeeded in obtaining stem cells capable of generating heart, vascular, bone, muscle, etc. cells from the fat cells of young donors. These findings were published in the 2 May 2005 issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine*.

Fat cells account for around 10% of the weight of a healthy individual and up to 50% of an obese person's. Harvesting them does not represent an ethical issue since the cells used are taken from waste generated from operations such as liposuction.

The CNRS (French National Scientific Research Centre)-INSERM team led by Louis Casteilla earlier proved, in vitro, that it was possible to obtain heart cells from fat cells. At the same time, Bernard Lévy's INSERM teams working with Louis Casteilla and Anne Boulomié's teams showed that these same cells could transform into blood vessel cells in mice.

This time, the findings of C. Dani and G. Ailhaud have enabled multi-potent stem cells known as hMADS (Human Multipotent Adipose Derived Stem Cell) to be identified in fat tissue. These cells are less mature and therefore offer greater potential than cells obtained previously by different teams. This study shows that the same hMADS stem cell is capable, in vitro, of generating a muscle, bone, fat or cartilage cell, depending on its environment. Once isolated and placed in culture, these stem cells had a high proliferation capacity, normal chromosomes and no oncogenic characteristics.

The researchers injected these cells in "mdx" mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (a serious hereditary disease characterised by progressive muscle degeneration). The hMADS cells were not rejected despite the absence of immunosuppressant treatment and led to considerable long-term expression of human dystrophin, a protein essential for structuring muscular fibre. According to Prof. Gérard Ailhaud, "These promising results pave the way for allografts of these cells on patients with muscular diseases." An international patent was registered for the findings.

These multi-potent stem cells therefore offer promising possibilities for repairing numerous tissues and treating muscular pathologies.

* « Transplantation of a multipotent cell population from human adipose tissue induces dystrophin expression in the immunocompetent mdx mouse », Anne-Marie Rodriguez, Didier Pisani, Claude A.Dechesne, Claude Turc-Carel, Jean-Yves Kurzenne, Brigitte Wdziekonski, Albert Villageois, Claude Bagnis, Jean-Philippe Breittmayer, Hervé Groux, Gerard Ailhaud&Christian Dani, Journal of Experimental Medicine 2 mai 2005.

USA: ESCRO to monitor human embryo
stem cell research

Two American organisations, the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, published their recommendations on human embryo stem cell research. 

They are calling for the creation of ESCRO (Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight) committees charged with examining human embryo stem cell research projects, in particular from an ethical and legal standpoint, on embryos created for IVF or through cloning.

The report published by these two organisations also calls for the regulation of embryo donations (ban on remuneration, etc.) and the creation of chimeras (fusion of human and animal cells).

These recommendations are not legally binding but could be imposed in major research organisations.

Info Science 06/05/05

Europe: European Conference of
National Ethics Committees

The HCPF (Population and Family Control Board) led by Marie-Thérèse Boisseau has published its report on the risks surrounding late pregnancy. It calls on the public authorities to inform the population better on the related health and demographic risks and to implement "a policy to limit this phenomenon".

According to the organisation, the average age of women having their first pregnancy has shifted from 24 in 1974 to 29.6 in 2003. This "delay in having the first child is progressing rapidly", leading to health as well as demographic risks.

In 10 years, the number of first children born to women between 35 and 39 has increased by 36%, noted Prof. Israël Nisand, head of obstetric gynaecology at Strasbourg University Hospital. At this age, the mother exposes herself to greater risks. Over the age of 40, there is also an increased risk of prematurity, growth retardation, foetal mortality, multiple births and Down syndrome. Prof. Nisand stressed that 1,600 abortions due to prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis were carried out in 2004. The number of children born with Down syndrome, however, remained stable at 300.

Furthermore, "late mothers" and childless women "do not enjoy significant and lasting protection against breast cancer observed in women having had their first child at a young age".

The main health risk couple's face is "not being able to have children at all after waiting too long".

The HCPS recommends that the Department of Public Health organise a "consensus conference" to propose measures such as "reinforced monitoring of late pregnancies and stricter supervision of human assisted reproduction methods". It also calls for greater scientific investigation into the consequences of this practice, both from a health and a psychological point of view.  It recommends that the question of late pregnancy be inserted in the government's perinatal plan and in public health laws. It also calls for general practitioners and gynaecologists to receive training on this subject. Lastly, it wishes a public awareness campaign to be launched through the INPES (French National Institute for Prevention and Health Education).

Lexicon on Ambiguous and Colloquial Terms about Family Life and Ethical Questions

The French version of the "Lexicon on Ambiguous and Colloquial Terms about Family Life and Ethical Questions" will be presented in Paris on 1 June by Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, chairman of the Pontifical Council for the Family. The lexicon, which now includes around a dozen more articles compared to the 2003 Italian version, examines subjects concerning the family (sexuality, homosexuality, procreation, reproductive health, relationships, etc.), life (abortion, euthanasia, status of the embryo, genomics, etc.) and general bioethics issues (biotechnology, bioethics committees, etc.).

To draw up this lexicon, the Pontifical Council for the Family appealed to acknowledged experts including Bishop Vingt-Trois, Bishop Ricard, Jean-Marie Le Méné, Bishop Anatrella, Xavier Lacroix, M-T Hermange, Jean-Marie Meyer, Bishop Schooyans, etc.

 La Croix 02/05/05  -

Euthanasia at the Council of Europe

The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe has rejected a proposed resolution on euthanasia.

In a report drawn up in September 2003, Dick Marty, a Swiss, considered that euthanasia was commonly practised in hospitals today. He stated in particular that "no one had the right to force a dying person or a terminally ill patient to continue living in intolerable anxiety and suffering when they had repeated their desire to die".

The proposal was debated for nearly 4 years, during which numerous amendments were made. Recommendation 1418 (1999) whose principles are outlined below was recalled:

a) The right to life, especially with regard to a terminally ill or dying person, is guaranteed by the Member States;

b) A terminally ill or dying person’s wish to die never constitutes any legal claim to die at the hand of another person;

c) A terminally ill or dying person’s wish to die cannot of itself constitute a legal justification to carry out actions intended to bring about death.

Recommendation 1418 recognises that " the obligation to respect and to protect the dignity of a terminally ill or dying person derives from the inviolability of human dignity in all stages of life".

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe considered the definition of passive euthanasia employed by D. Marty to be misleading. It recalled the difference between euthanasia and ceasing aggressive therapy and stressed the importance of palliative care.

  - Le Quotidien du Médecin (Denis Durand de Bousingen) 29/04/05

House of Lords authorises "designer babies"

The highest court of the United Kingdom has ruled that the creation of "designer babies" to treat sick siblings is lawful.

The first "designer baby" was born in 2000 in the United States. Adam Nash was conceived to save his six-year-old sister, Molly, who had a bone marrow disorder. To do this, they had to create 15 embryos of which only one was retained. At the time, Professor Eliane Gluckman (Saint Louis Hospital in Paris) declared, "The chances of success are no higher than 10%. In most cases, it would be better to attempt an alternative solution with a cord blood transplant from a donor who is not completely compatible."

In France, the CCNE (National Ethical Advisory Committee) published a notice in July 2002 saying it was not against this tissue-typing pre-implantation genetic diagnosis provided that the desire for a child took precedence over the hope of finding a cure. The bioethics law of 6 August 2004 currently authorises this procedure on a trial basis when "a couple has given birth to a child with a genetic disease that would lead to death within the first few years of its life or which is acknowledged as incurable when diagnosed". The  "prognosis of this child must also be improved decisively" by therapeutic measures that "do not violate the integrity of the unborn child".

This pre-implantation genetic diagnosis technique raises serious ethical questions. The embryo undergoes a dual selection process in that it must not carry the same disease as the afflicted sibling and must also be "compatible" with him or her. This selection leads to the elimination of diseased embryos as well as healthy but incompatible ones. Specialists also question the psychological effects on a child conceived only to save another.

"We are pleased with the clarity that this ruling brings for patients," commented the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), indicating that it would not hesitate to authorise this procedure to "offer a treatment for disease".

According to Josephine Quintavalle, founder of CORE (Comment on Reproductive Ethics), the Lords' decision paves the way for "creating babies who are the right sex [and have] the right hair colour". "This is exactly the kind of designer baby scenario this country has a horror of."

Anti-abortion movements also indicated they were "saddened" by the ruling. "Today's decision … takes us further down the slippery slope in creating human beings to provide spare parts for another," stated LIFE.

Le Monde.fr 29/04/05 - Libération 29/04/05 - Le Nouvel Observateur (Joël Ignasse) 29/04/05