EDMONTON – An international team headed by an Edmonton physician has used stem cells to heal and protect the lungs of newborn rats – research that could help premature babies with chronic lung disease.

Dr. Bernard Thebaud’s team injected stem cells from bone marrow into the rats’ airways. Two weeks later the rodents were running twice as far on treadmills and had better survival rates.

Thebaud says the stems cells acted like tiny damage control factories, pumping out healing factors.

The research, which is being published Dec. 1 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, will lead to clinical trials with premature babies.

About half of babies born before 28 weeks get chronic lung disease, a condition that can affect lung capacity as they grow up.

Related posts:

1. Israeli study suggests Mozart's music may help speed up weight gain in premature babies
2. Immune System’s Natural Killer Cells Linked To Infant Liver Disease
3. Report says 13 million babies worldwide born premature
4. Weight Determines Future Cognitive Development Of Children Born Very Premature, Study Suggests
5. Antidepressants linked to premature birth risk