Stem cells can act as a source of new, healthy specialized cells and may provide a way to replace damaged cells in the eye. Stem cell therapy for retinal disease is under way. The use of stem cells or genetically modified cells to restore the structure and function of damaged tissue and the use of cells to control the damaging effects of inflammation. Stem cells introduced into the eye have a better chance of survival due to the immune privileged state of the eye and thus the reduced risk of immune rejection. Stem cells can be used to re-grow damaged or lost cells in the cornea and other parts of the eye. Stem cells have the amazing ability to take on the responsibilities of any cell in the body and then regenerate through cell division. Stem cell therapy harnesses this power, taking stem cells from one part of the body and transplanting them to damaged areas. Stem cells can act as a source of new, healthy specialized cells and may provide a way to replace damaged cells in the eye. They are responsible for making new corneal cells to replace damaged ones. Cells from a donor can be used but donors are in short supply, success rates are lower, and donor cells are usually only effective in the short to medium term. Stem cell therapy has emerged as a potentially revolutionary technology in the field of medicine. Stem cells are a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues and have the already been used widely for over 75 blood disorders, and are now showing potential to treat groundbreaking eye disease treatment. It is used for various eye diseases including Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma, Retinitis Pigmentos and Diabetic Retinopathy. The treatment involves the use of adipose-derived stem cells that are harvested from the patient’s own body. New healthy cells can also be grown to treat eye diseases as well as replace dysfunctional tissues. The ultimate goal of stem cell therapy is to replace unhealthy cells with healthy ones and to do so efficiently, allowing proper cell functioning in the human body. The ability of stem cells to treat eye diseases is of great interest to both researchers and clinicians because currently there is no therapy to cure ocular neurodegenerative diseases.
Optic nerve damage is also called optic nerve atrophy or optic neuropathy. The optic nerve is the nerve that connects and transmits information between the eye and the brain. Optic nerve damage can lead to vision distortion, vision loss and blindness within the eye there are many elements that work together to create vision. Light flows through the cornea and the pupil into the lens before it is projected onto the retina in the back of the eye. The retina transforms light into electrical impulses that are transmitted by the optic nerve to the brain. The eyes are protected by the bones of the orbit and move through the actions of the eye muscles which are controlled by nerve generation. Cell-replacement therapy exploits the plasticity of stem cells-progenitors to replace cells and repair tissues damaged by disease or injury. There are two approaches to cell replacement therapy: replacement of damaged cells with cultured stem cells-progenitors and regeneration or replacement of damaged cells with endogenous stem cells-prog Cells of glial lineage may also participate in the regeneration process in response to disease or injury by providing an alternative source of neural progenitors. This notion is supported by observations that glial precursors can be reprogrammed to become multipotential neural progenitors and that neural regeneration in injured adult goldfish.
