According to a study by researchers at the University of Cincinnati, human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UMSCs) can potentially lead to an effective treatment for vision impairment caused by a cloudy cornea.

The study, presented at an American Society for Cell Biology conference, said that tests on laboratory mice have revealed that UMSCs played a vital part in restoring transparency to the cloudy corneas of the mice.

Elaborating on the findings, researcher Winston Kao, from the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, said that the transplantation of the mesenchymal stem cell into the corneal stroma of the mice’s eyes showed that they survived for over three months without any notable sign of graft rejection.

Saying that the research can pave the way for the prospects of cloudy cornea treatment based on stem cells from human umbilical cords, the study also noted that, at present, the supply of donated human corneas for treating people with severe corneal and eye diseases is much limited.

Noting that there is a worldwide ‘shortage’ of suitable corneas for transplantation, Dr Kao said: “These findings have the potential to create new and better treatments and an improved quality of life for patients with vision loss due to corneal injury.”

Kao also said that the mesenchymal stem cells can easily be isolated from the umbilical cord, can grow effectively in culture and be stored in liquid nitrogen.