Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Language

English

Publication Date

12-1-2025

Journal

Movement Disorders

DOI

10.1002/mds.70028

PMID

40891094

PMCID

PMC12710125

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

9-1-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

Background: Neuroinflammation contributes to Parkinson's disease (PD) progression and motor dysfunction. Allogeneic human mesenchymal stem cells (allo-hMSCs) may reduce neuroinflammation and improve motor symptoms.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of repeated intravenous doses of 10 × 106/kg allo-hMSCs in improving motor symptoms in patients with PD (PwP).

Methods: In this phase 2, randomized, placebo-controlled trial (November 2020-July 2023), mild-to-moderate PwP received either three allo-hMSC infusions, one placebo followed by two allo-hMSC infusions, or three placebo infusions at 18-week intervals. Follow-up lasted 88 weeks. The primary outcome was a >70% posterior probability (PP) of a difference in the proportion of participants with ≥5-point improvement in OFF-medication Movement Disorder Society Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-Part III (MDS-UPDRS-III) at week 62. Bayesian analysis was conducted using R v4.2.0.

Results: Forty-five PwP were enrolled. A larger proportion of subjects achieved a ≥5-point improvement in MDS-UPDRS-III in the three-infusion arm compared with placebo at week 62 (mean difference [MD]: 5.0%, PP = 93.7%), translating to a 16.9-point improvement in MDS-UPDRS-III in the three-infusion arm compared with a 14.6-point improvement in the placebo arm. Conversely, fewer subjects in the two-infusion arm compared with placebo showed ≥5-point improvement at week 62 (MD: -62.4%, PP ≥ 99.9%), translating to only a 3.9-point improvement in MDS-UPDRS-III in the two-infusion arm. However, improvement in MDS-UPDRS-III was seen across all treatment arms. Adverse events were mild and transient.

Conclusions: Three infusions of 10 × 106 allo-hMSCs/kg improved motor function in mild-to-moderate PwP, while two infusions showed less improvement than placebo. To address this discrepancy, future studies should conduct functional potency assays to understand batch-to-batch variability affecting clinical efficacy. © 2025 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Keywords

Humans, Parkinson Disease, Male, Female, Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation, Middle Aged, Aged, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Transplantation, Homologous, Double-Blind Method, Treatment Outcome, Parkinson's disease, mesenchymal stem cells, allogeneic stem cells, intravenous infusions, randomized controlled trial

Published Open-Access

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