| Scientists
at the University of Michigan (U-M) have developed a method of gene
delivery that appears safe for regenerating tooth-supporting gum tissue.
William Giannobile,
professor at the U-M School of dentistry and director of the Michigan
Center for Oral Health Research and appointed at the U-M College
of Engineering's Department of Biomedical Engineering, says that
Gene therapy is an accepted, viable therapeutic concept, but safety
is a major hurdle. The most notable incident highlighting the safety
concerns of gene therapy research and treatment occurred several
years ago when a teenager died when given the adenovirus during
a gene therapy clinical trial at the University of Pennsylvania.
The U-M therapy also
uses the adenovirus, but the big difference in the U-M approach
lies in the local application and much lower dose. Giannobile added
that the study showed that the topical method is very well contained
and doesn't distribute throughout
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the body and this approach alleviates the safety concern about negative
reactions within the body. But the study as Giannobile says it doesn't
look at all the safety concerns. The two clinical applications where
it shows potential are periodontal disease and diabetic wounds.
The next step is to
use the new approach in human clinical trials, the planning stages
for these studies will commence in the next year.
The paper called "adenovirus
Encoding Human Platelet-derived Growth Factor-B Delivered to Alveolar
Bone Defects Exhibits Safety and Biodistribution Profiles Favorable
for Clinical Use" is available in the May issue (May 13,2009) of
the journal Human Gene Therapy.
To get more information
about this subject, please visit: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/
090407145210.htm
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