Our innovations in neurology

The development of new medical standards of diagnostics and therapy of various neural disorders, injuries and their consequences takes a long time and is quite complicated as it passes the way from fundamental research in the tube, pre-clinical trials in animal models in the lab and multicenter clinical trials in humans to the long-term introduction of the innovations into clinical practice. This period of trials and introduction into practice may take years and decades and is defined as the stage of the experimental treatment or innovative technology in neurology.

As a rule, any innovations or unconventional solutions are rejected and severely criticized by the medical community. Several years later, some start saying “There is something in it”, and then, decades after experimental use, they are convinced that we had always used to do that and, finally, the decision of the officials makes it the standard. Hence, the answer about the real effect and safety of any innovation in medicine can be given only by the time. Only it is able to answer the main questions of the researchers and patients about the expediency and validity of the novel method of treatment or diagnostics. The history of medicine and especially pharmacology knows a lot of errors and even tragedies when new methods led to the delayed adverse effects. However, nothing can be achieved without science driven risk both for the researcher and for the subject. Things that work perfectly in mice appear ineffective in human.

Over 20 years our interests have been focused on the development of the novel methods of therapy of the consequences of the severe trauma of the human brain and spinal cord by autologous (patient’s own) and allogeneic (donor’s) hematopoietic personalised therapys (cells). The clinical experience of administration of these technologies to over 10000 cases of spinal cord injury (SCI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) and over 25000 intrathecal and intraventricular transfusions of the cells have convincingly demonstrated safety and significant efficiency (60.4% cases) of the restoration of disordered functions. In 2005 and 2006 the technologies were officially registered and approved for clinical use by the Roszdravnadzor.

Further, we started to actively use this technology in the therapy of ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, neurodegenerative diseases, dementia, atrophic processes in the brain, consequence of neuroinfections and chronic vegetative states. The effectiveness of the restoration of the damaged functions in this contingent varied from 37 to 65%. Our patients have been rejected in the conventional therapy and only palliative therapy has been left for them. Our experience showed that neurorestorative therapy by cells is efficient only when the pathological process in the brain is arrested, no edema or inflammation is observed and two to three months after the acute injury, hemorrhage or ischemia have passed. The therapy by cells is senseless in acute ischemic, inflammatory or hemorrhagic process in the brain, as all administered cells will inevitably die in the focus of inflammation and edema in the tissue. We performed 102 innovative tissue engineering surgeries in the spinal cord of the humans using the implantable neuroendoprosthetic system based on SpheroGel, the biodegradable matrix.

The 20 years follow up of over 19000 patients who received the personalised therapy therapy showed no cases of cancer induced by the cells, or therapy related complications that we could not cope with. This achievement is associated with our approach, according to which we use only patient’s own or closely related cells that have already acquired their vector of differentiation.

Transfusion of the cells is a unique means to regenerate damaged brain and spinal cord in the hands of a trained specialists. Analyzing our 20-year experience of using cells, we can claim that if used properly it can help prevent cancer and even be a beneficial method of its treatment. Our research team of oncologists has developed and patented a novel technology of precision cell oncoimmunology for the therapy and prevention of cancer in adults. During the work of NeuroVita hospital we have developed over ten unparalleled biomedical technologies that have been protected by over 20 patents of the Russian Federation and one patent of the USA; over 200 articles have been published as well as 20 monographs. We developed a unique post-genome technology of ultra-early diagnostics of cancer and some neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s diseases, Binswanger encephalopathy, senile and vascular dementias, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other). Innovative remote-controlled approach to the restoration of the brain and spinal cord was patented and awarded by the Rospatent as one of the top hundred best inventions in Russia in 2017. The technology of ultra-early post-genome diagnostics of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases was nominated for award of the Healthcare Department of Moscow Government.

The team of Novosibirsk researchers headed by Prof. Chernykh ER, and the specialists from the Research Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian department of the Russian Academy of Science, Novosibirsk, Russia Bogachev SS, and Shurdov MA, PhD (Moscow, Russia) have joined our research. The cooperation resulted in the development of a new methodological approach and helped integrate the technologies of the therapy, tissue engineering and bioengineering of Moscow team with the gene therapy of Novosibirsk team and brought the solution to seemingly insolvable issues on neurology and neurooncology. We do hope that these innovations become the standards of the treatment of the range of lethal oncological and neurological diseases of civilization.