Cell transplantation in Parkinson's disease

Previous open-label clinical trials have provided proof of principle that intrastriatal transplants of fetal dopaminergic neurons can induce substantial and long-lasting functional benefits in patients with Parkinson's disease. However, in two recent NIH-sponsored double-blind trials functional improvements were only marginal and the primary endpoints were not met. Severe off-phase dyskinesias were observed in a significant proportion of the transplanted patients, raising doubts about the viability of the cell transplantation approach. The results from the two NIH-sponsored trials highlight several important iss…