Intracerebral transplantation of autologous adipose‐derived stem cells for chronic ischemic stroke: A phase I study

Current therapy does not provide significant benefits for patients with chronic stroke. Pre-clinical studies suggested that autologous adipose-derived stem cells have benefits for the treatment of chronic stroke. This Phase I open-label study was conducted to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of autologous adipose-derived stem cells (GXNPC1) in chronic stroke. Three patients with chronic stroke were treated with stereotactic implantation of autologous adipose-derived stem cells (1 × 10⁸ cells). The primary endpoints of safety evaluation included adverse events, over a 6 months post-implantation period. The secondary endpoints included improvements in neurological functions. Evolutional change of brain parenchyma was also followed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). All three participants improved significantly at 6 months follow-up. The extent of improvement from pre-treatment was: National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale improved 5-15 points, Barthel Index: 25-50 points, Berg balance scale 0-21 points and Fugl-Meyer modified sensation 3-28 points. All three patients had signal change along the implantation tract on MRI one month after surgery. There is no related safety issue through 6 months observation. Clinical measures of neurological symptoms of these patients with chronic stroke improved at 6 months without adverse effects after implantation of autologous adipose-derived stem cells (GXNPC1), which might be correlated with post-implantation changes on brain MRI. Clinical Trial Registration-URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02813512?term=ADSC&cond=Stroke&cntry=TW&draw=2&rank=1 Unique identifier: NCT02813512.