With confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, now spreading to every continent besides Antarctica, the fight to stop further spread of the virus is becoming more and more of an international effort.
And there’s one international group of researchers, led by Dr. Kunlin Jin at the UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth, working in North Texas to help people’s own bodies potentially fight off the potentially deadly pneumonia caused by the virus.
“A lot of people are trying find the answers,” Jin said in a prepared statement. “[The outbreak] posed great threats to global public health.”
The UNT team combines researchers and clinicians from the U.S., UK, South Korea, China and Russia.
The team at UNT is developing a ways to use stem cells to boost the immune system. That's different than other research efforts currently underway looking to create vaccines for the coronavirus or others like that developed by Fort Worth biotech company Exact Diagnostics, which has developed testing accuracy kits for researchers, the team at UNT is developing a way to use stem cells to boost the immune system.
“There is a desperate need for anything – anything experimental, anything that could be tried off the shelf to address COVID-19 pneumonia,” Jin said in a prepared statement.
The team said early results are promising. A study conducted beginning on January 30 at a Chinese hospital by the researchers gave stem cells to seven patients, while three others received placebos. Of the ones that received the stem cells, all were release from the hospital within 14 days. Out of the three others who did not receive the stem cell injection, one died and two developed further severe symptoms.
According to the researchers, one of the reasons the pneumonia caused by coronavirus can be fatal is the fluid filling the lungs, causing tissue damage, which can be especially harmful in the elderly and people with compromised immune systems.
“No specific drugs or vaccines are available to cure the patients with COVID-19 infection,” according to a journal article written by the team. “Hence, there is a large unmet need for a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19 infected patients, especially the severe cases.”
However, before the stem cells could be used in the U.S., further clinical testing and approval by the FDA would be required. Trial vaccines are being worked on, but none are expected to be available for public use for another 12 to 18 months, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
