It is a taboo disease that we rarely talk about. However, anal incontinence affects 1 million people in France, 350,000 of whom have a severe form, causing significant personal, societal and economic handicap. The disease is characterized by the fact that the sphincters (the circular muscles that surround the anal area) lose their ability to contract properly. Between 10 and 15% of women suffer from this just dysfunction after childbirth and 4 to 5% of them have severe chronic incontinence.
Researchers from Inserm Unit 1234 associated with the University of Rouen Normandy joined forces with the biotherapies laboratory and the digestive surgery department of the Rouen University Hospital to develop a clinical trial for cell therapy consisting of using adult stem cells (myoblasts ) capable of differentiating into efficient muscle cells.
Treatment worked in 58% of patients
In a first step, the rats treated with these myoblasts showed a recovery of their sphincter function. Secondly, a clinical trial made it possible to test the therapy on 24 patients, only half of whom received the innovative treatment.
A follow-up of the incontinence score (called Cleveland score) of the participants was carried out 6 months then 1 year after the injection of stem cells.
One year after the injection, the treatment had worked in 7 out of 12 people (58%) while only 1 in 12 (8%) patients had seen their incontinence improve in the placebo group.
Faced with these good results, the patients in the placebo group who so desired were able to benefit from the injection of their muscle cells which had been cryopreserved. Their follow-up showed a response rate as satisfactory as that of the first group.
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