Washington DC [US], November 23 (ANI): A first-of-its-kind trial is testing adult stem cell transplants for advanced dry macular degeneration. Early results show the treatment is safe and can significantly improve vision, even in severely affected patients.

Participants gained measurable sight improvements in the treated eye. Researchers are now monitoring higher-dose groups as the therapy advances toward later trial phases.

In the United States, age-related macular degeneration is one of the most common causes of permanent vision loss in adults who are 60 and older.

It affects the macula, the central region of the retina that contains tightly packed cells used for sharp, detailed colour vision.

Roughly 20 million adults in the country are living with some form of AMD. People with this condition typically lose the ability to see objects directly in front of them, although their peripheral vision remains intact.

Available therapies can slow how the disease progresses, but none of them can restore lost vision.

In a study published in Cell Stem Cell, scientists tested retinal pigment epithelial stem cells in a phase 1/2a clinical trial. The cells were obtained from adult postmortem eye tissue. These early-stage trials are designed to determine whether a treatment can be safely administered.

AMD occurs in two forms: dry and wet. More than 90% of patients have the dry type, which develops when retinal pigment epithelial cells begin to malfunction and eventually die.

In the early stages of AMD, these cells no longer work correctly. At more advanced stages, they die and cannot regenerate. As the condition worsens, multiple regions in the central retina lose these essential cells.

In the current study, individuals with advanced dry AMD received transplants of specialized stem cells originally sourced from eye-bank tissue. These adult stem cells were limited in function and could only mature into retinal pigment epithelial cells.