World’s first nose drop to reverse little Senna’s brain damage –

Senna Mennes, who is 18 months old, loves to run and dance like any child.

But for Sebastian Mennes, 37, and Suzanne Nakhla, 36, it’s a miracle to see Senna enjoying such simple pleasures.

This was because Sebastian and Suzanne feared that shortly after their daughter was born, Senna would never be able to walk on her own and would need a wheelchair.

In just one day, little Senna suffered a stroke – one of the main arteries in his brain was briefly blocked causing a lack of blood and oxygen – causing damage to one side of the brain.

It is unclear why this happened, but his family has been warned that it is unlikely that Senna will be able to walk, let alone run.

There is usually no cure for these cases, and hundreds of children in the UK who suffer a stroke each year often have to live with severe physical disabilities.

But Senna was born in the Netherlands, where scientists pioneered the use of an innovative treatment with nasal drops containing millions of stem cells.

The idea is that these cells can stimulate the body’s cells to repair damage from stroke. As a result, it can be used to help many other babies suffering from brain damage such as a traumatic birth.

Senna was one of ten children to participate in the first trial of this groundbreaking therapy, and in her case, she seems to have changed the perspective she faced after she was born on November 3, 2020.

Artist Suzanne, who is 39 weeks pregnant, went to the hospital after she realized that her baby had stopped moving.

“I got a call to get to the hospital quickly because they had to do an emergency cesarean,” says Sebastian, a software entrepreneur.

A healthy 2.98 kg Senna received oxygen and was transferred to the intermediate care unit.

However, he gasped three times during the night, had seizures, and was transferred to the NICU in Rotterdam. “It was scary because at first we didn’t know what was going on,” Sebastian says.

MRI of the brain revealed that Senna had a neonatal stroke; it was the name given to a stroke that occurs in babies younger than 28 days old and affects one in 2,300 babies.

Senna Mennes, who is 18 months old, loves to run and dance like any child. But for Sebastian Mennes, 37, and Suzanne Nakhla, 36, seeing Senna enjoy such simple pleasures is nothing short of a miracle.

Stroke in infants is a common cause of cerebral palsy, a group of conditions in which movement and coordination are affected by a problem in the brain that occurs before, during or after birth.

The scan showed that the stroke had damaged the left side of Senna’s brain, meaning his fine motor skills — movement of key muscles and joints — would likely be affected.

“When they told us about Senna’s condition, it was terrible news,” Sebastian says. “All I could imagine was his future, he thought he had to take private lessons at school and couldn’t play with his friends or run around.”

But then doctors called it experimental stem cell therapy. If his family had given the green light, Senna would have been one of the first in the world to receive it.

“It took a while to convince us,” Sebastian says, “but then I thought it was a lottery. I was wondering what the odds were for Senna to have a stroke, and what the odds were if this experimental treatment was possible.

Suzanne was even more concerned about her decisions: “My first thought was, ‘If we can do something about it, we should,’ we should. But after reading that it was an experimental study, I was like, ‘Oh! Safe?’ †

Scientists at Utrecht University Medical Center spent 12 years studying the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are normally found in the bone marrow, where they create new blood cells.

Previous research had shown that these cells produce proteins that stimulate the growth and repair of tissues in the body. The Utrecht team’s theory was that if stem cells were able to transport the stem cells to the damaged part of a child’s brain, the stem cell growth factors would help suppress the inflammation caused by the stroke, which would otherwise cause further damage and stimulate the brain itself. brain stem cells to repair damage.

The question was how to deliver the stem cells to a fragile baby.

“If we did this by injecting it into the bloodstream, the cells wouldn’t reach our destination in the brain, but would go to other organs, so we decided to give them with nose drops,” explains neuroscientist Cora Nijboer, who led the study. ., Sender . †

“The nasal cavity is very close to the brain, there’s only one bone in the middle, and it has small openings for cells to pass through to the brain,” he says.

“The injured area sends ‘warning signals’ that direct the stem cells to the right place.”

In animal studies, the cells reached the damaged area of ​​the brain within two hours, and then brain stem cells were activated to repair the damaged tissue.

Senna and nine other children were given 50 million stem cells the size of a teaspoon (from a donor’s bone marrow) divided between two nostrils. They were then followed for four days in the intensive care unit.

“In our laboratory studies, we found that the transplanted stem cells disappeared from the brain after a few days, even though the healing process had begun. by beneficial substances.” stem cells donated, repairing the lesion and transforming into new tissue’, Prof. Dr. Nijboer a.

One child had a mild fever, while none of the others experienced any side effects from the treatment. Three months later, the infants underwent a follow-up MRI, which showed that the area damaged by the stroke was shrinking in all cases.

“It was difficult to detect the area of ​​stroke we saw at birth with the Senna scan,” says Professor Manon Benders, who specializes in treating newborn babies and is part of the research team.

At four months, each baby was able to move better than expected, and a year later, ten of them are now walking, although three babies have weakness on one side of their body.

“We expected that at least some of them would need wheelchairs or walkers, but they’re all in very good shape,” says Professor Benders.

When children reach the age of two, their development is reviewed. The full results will be published in the June issue of Lancet Neurology, although Professor Nijboer notes that this treatment offers hope for children rather than adults.

“The therapy is based on the brain repairing itself, and because a child’s brain is still developing, the repair system is much more active than in older people,” he says.

Darius Widera, professor of stem cell biology at the University of Reading, says larger studies are needed, but adds: “If this shows a therapeutic benefit, this would be a great option for kids.”

Meanwhile, Senna is thriving like any girl her age.

“She walked before her first birthday, is at the top of their growth curve and is starting to talk,” says mom and dad. “We are so grateful every day.”