Erratum: [Corrigendum] CD271+ stem cell treatment of patients with chronic stroke: A retrospective case series report

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3892/etm.2020.8948.].

Neuron-Specific Enolase (NSE) as a Biomarker for Autistic Spectrum Disease (ASD)

Autistic spectrum disease (ASD) is an increasingly common diagnosis nowadays with a prevalence of 1-2% in most countries. Its complex causality-a combination of genetic, immune, metabolic, and environmental factors-is translated into pleiomorphic developmental disorders of various severity, which have two main aspects in common: repetitive, restrictive behaviors and difficulties in social interaction varying from awkward habits and verbalization to a complete lack of interest for the outside world. The wide variety of ASD causes also makes it very difficult to find a common denominator-a disease biomarker and medication-and currently, there is no commonly used diagnostic and therapeutic strategy besides clinical evaluation and psychotherapy. In the CORDUS clinical study, we have administered autologous cord blood to ASD kids who had little or no improvement after other treatments and searched for a biomarker which could help predict the degree of improvement in each patient. We have found that the neuron-specific enolase (NSE) was elevated above the normal clinical range (less than 16.3 ng/mL) in the vast majority of ASD kids tested in our study (40 of 41, or 97.5%). This finding opens up a new direction for diagnostic confirmation, dynamic evaluation, and therapeutic intervention for ASD kids.

CD271+ stem cell treatment of patients with chronic stroke: : A retrospective case series report

Patients with chronic stroke have currently little hope for motor improvement towards regaining independent activities of daily living; stem cell treatments offer a new treatment option and needs to be developed. Patients with chronic stroke (more than 3 months prior to stem cell treatment, mean 21.2 months post-stroke) were treated with CD271+ stem cells, 7 patients received autologous and 1 allogeneic cells from first degree relative; administration was intravenous in 1 and intrathecal in 7 patients. Each patient received a single treatment consisting of 2-5x106 cells/kg and they were followed up for up to 12 months. There were significant improvements in expressive aphasia (2/3 patients) spasticity (5/5, of which 2 were transient), and small improvements in motor function (2/8 patients). Although motor improvements were minor in our chronic stroke patients, improvements in aphasia and spasticity were significant and in the context of good safety we are advocating further administration and clinical studies of CD271+ stem cells not only in chronic stroke patients, but also for spastic paresis/plegia; a different, yet unexplored application is pulmonary emphysema.

A dissection of SARS‑CoV2 with clinical implications (Review)

We are being confronted with the most consequential pandemic since the Spanish flu of 1918‑1920 to the extent that never before have 4 billion people quarantined simultaneously; to address this global challenge we bring to the forefront the options for medical treatment and summarize SARS‑CoV2 structure and functions, immune responses and known treatments. Based on literature and our own experience we propose new interventions, including the use of amiodarone, simvastatin, pioglitazone and curcumin. In mild infections (sore throat, cough) we advocate prompt local treatment for the naso‑pharynx (inhalations; aerosols; nebulizers); for moderate to severe infections we propose a tried‑and‑true treatment: the combination of arginine and ascorbate, administered orally or intravenously. The material is organized in three sections: i) Clinical aspects of COVID‑19; acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); known treatments; ii) Structure and functions of SARS‑CoV2 and proposed antiviral drugs; iii) The combination of arginine‑ascorbate.