Shapour Shahgasempour , Habibullah Peirovi , Afshin Fathi
Background: Patients suffering from Thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) have endothelial cell dysfunction and the severity of the disease lies in the need for amputation in more than a quarter of all sufferers.
Methods and Findings: We report the safety and feasibility of autologous implantation of circulating mononuclear cells for patients suffering from Buerger’s disease following bone-marrow mobilization with granulocyte colony stimulating factor (5 mg/kg/day for 5-7 days). Six patients participated in this study. Mononuclear cells were separated by Cobas Spectra cell separator. MNCs, CD34+ and CD133+ cells were enumerated prior to intramuscular injection into the affected foot/ limb muscles at multiple sites on the collection day. Stem cell injection prevented disease progression in all six patients. In this small cohort of patients with critical limb ischemia, quality of life improved significantly over a two year period. Also, pain-free walking distance in all patients showed significant improvement.
Conclusions: Autologous mononuclear cell containing CD34+/CD133+ stem cells collected from peripheral blood following G-CSF mobilization is effective, safe and results in sustained clinical results for patients with severe peripheral occlusive arterial disease.
