A new bone marrow transplantation method for stem cell disorders.

Using animal models for autoimmune diseases, we have previously shown that allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) can be used to treat autoimmune diseases and that autoimmune diseases are hemopoietic stem cell (HSC) disorders. We have recently developed a new BMT method. The method consists of a perfusion method (PM) plus intrabone marrow (IBM)-BMT. The PM, in comparison with conventional aspiration, can minimize the contamination of BMCs with T cells from peripheral blood, and consequently no graft-versus-host disease develops. Because bone marrow cells collected by the PM contain not only HSCs but also mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), the injection of both cells directly into the bone marrow cavity facilitates the engraftment of donor hemopoietic cells. Using this new method, we show that most age-associated diseases, such as osteoporosis and emphysema, are MSC disorders and, on the basis of this evidence, propose a new concept of stem cell disorders, including HSC and MSC disorders. We believe that the advent of IBM-BMT and our proposed concept herald a revolution in the field of transplantation (BMT and organ transplantation) and regeneration medicine.