Congenital cataracts (or cataracts present from birth), like cataracts that come with age, are currently treated by surgery – the removal of the lens and implanting an artificial lens in its place.
Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide, however in infants the current surgical treatment can lead to more complications than in adults.
University of California at San Diego researchers currently are working on a procedure that would make it possible for the stem cells naturally existing in the eye to re-grow a natural lens with the capacity for vision.
Endogenous stem cells are stem cells that are already naturally in the body – in this case in the eye. In this new research, a less invasive surgical method is used to remove the lens so as not to damage the lens epithelial stem cells (LECs) or the lens capsule that enables the eye to focus by holding the lens in place.
After the surgery, the LECs in the eye are stimulated to grow back, forming a new lens. After initial experiments with rabbits and monkeys, UCSD researchers actually successfully completed a human trial with infants under the age of 2 and the results were really favorable.
“The success of this work represents a new approach in how new human tissue or organ can be regenerated and human disease can be treated, and may have a broad impact on regenerative therapies by harnessing the regenerative power of our own body,” said lead author Kang Zhang, MD, PhD.