Iran’s Royan Research Institute Using Umbilical Cord Stem Cells to Treat Arthritis

“We have started treating patients with severe arthritis, including knee, hip and shoulder joint arthritis, with umbilical cord stem cells since last week, and the initial research results have been very promising,” said Morteza Zarrabi, the managing director of the Royan Research Institute’s Cord Blood Bank.

Noting that the product has reached a stage where umbilical cord stem cells can now be used to treat patients with arthritis, he said, “We are making efforts to provide the possibility of treating various diseases by utilizing stem cells from blood and umbilical cord tissue, and the initial results have been very successful.”

In a relevant development in February, the deputy director for research and technology department of Royan Research Institute had also announced the production of single-layer and double-layer medical skin for the treatment of wounds of diabetic patients and people with skin burns.

“One of our most important achievements this year has been the production of two types of medical skin, including single-layer skin and double-layer skin,” said Parvaneh Afsharian.

“The first product is a single-layer skin designed to treat third-degree burns and is used in cases where the body does not have any healthy skin for transplantation,” she explained, adding that this product has dimensions larger than a layer of human skin cells.

“The second product, a double-layer skin consisting of keratinocytes and fibroblasts, is designed to treat deep chronic wounds and is known as a completely biological wound dressing,” Afsharian said.

The clinical trials of this product were also conducted last year and has now been added to the country's list of medicines, she added.

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