Foetal cell success for Huntington's

A foetus at three to four weeks old

Hope has been offered to people with the previously untreatable degenerative condition Huntington's Disease.

French doctors have transplanted foetal brain cells into five sufferers. A year after the operation, three had shown improvements in their motor and cognitive functions.

A larger study is planned to develop the research into a possible treatment for others.

Huntington's usually develops when people are between 30 and 50 and gets progressively worse. Patients display jerky involuntary movements, difficulty in speaking and swallowing, and progressive decline.

Grafts

Researchers from the National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM), in Paris, looked at the part of the brain affected by Huntington's - the striatum.

Patients were assessed for two years before the foetal nerve cells were grafted into the right and, a year later, into the left striatum. Healthy brain cells from seven nine-week-old foetuses were transplanted into people with relatively mild Huntington's symptoms.

It does provide hope. There isn't very much of any sort at the moment

Sue Watkin
Huntington's Disease Association chair

Neurological and psychiatric tests, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and position emission tomography (Pet), were carried out.

The final Pet scan showed increased metabolic activity in three of the patients, which meant improvements in their motor and cognitive skills. One is even able to hold down a part-time job.

Of the other two patients who had the operation, one saw a "clear but temporary" improvement, which lasted around 18 months. The other saw no gain.

Research

Huntington's disease affects around one person in every 10,000. A genetic test is available but not all those deemed to be at risk decide to take it.

Some people prefer to stay in the dark because of the impact a positive result would have on their lives. They may find themselves having to pay higher insurance premiums.

INSERM is now planning further tests on around 60 patients, to be carried out with other French and Belgian research teams. Results should be available in four to five years.

The cells used in the study were taken from aborted foetuses, something researchers said did not contravene French laws banning research using embryos.

In the UK, embryo research is only permitted up to 14 days or before the first signs of neural development, and only if the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is satisfied that the use of embryos is necessary for the purposes of the research.

Benefit

Research has identified the cause of Huntington's to be a repeated sequence of DNA on chromosome four of the genetic code.

People with the sequence are susceptible to developing the disease, although the precise trigger is still not clear.

Sue Watkin, chair of the UK Huntington's Disease Association, said: "It does provide hope. There isn't very much of any sort at the moment."

And she said even if it the development was unable to stop the progression of the disease, if it could give a reasonable level of functioning, it would be "a great benefit".

The research is published by The Lancet.