Combines gene therapy with photostimulation
Seha ... a blind person regains his sight in part thanks to an innovative technology
The clinical trial was attended by French, Swiss and American teams.
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A 58-year-old man who became blind due to a hereditary degenerative disease was able to partially restore his eyesight, thanks to an innovative technology that combines gene therapy and photostimulation.
It is the first time that this technique, called optogenetics, has allowed a partial restoration of visual function, according to the researchers responsible for this clinical trial, in which French, Swiss and American teams participated.
The patient in the study suffers from retinopathy pigmentosa, a degenerative hereditary disease of the eye that damages the photoreceptor cells in the retina, leading to a progressive loss of vision that usually progresses to blindness.
The patient reached a stage where he could no longer perceive the presence of light, but treatment allowed him to locate and touch things, according to the study published the day before yesterday in the journal Nature Medicine.
In normal vision, the photoreceptors in the retina use the opsin proteins that are able to interact with light energy, which transmits visual information to the brain via the optic nerve.
In an effort to restore sensitivity to light, the patient was injected with a gene that encodes one of these proteins, called Crimson R, that detects amber light.
The man waited about five months after receiving the injection in order to give his body enough time to produce this protein in sufficient quantities, and then began to perform various exercises, equipped with custom glasses equipped with a camera.
These glasses, specially designed by the researchers for the study, allow amber-colored images to be displayed on the patient's retina.
The institute «L'Enestito de la Viezion» (the Institute of Sight) of the French Sorbonne University, the National Institute for Scientific Research and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research, in a joint statement with the Parisian Hospital, "Keynes-Van", which specializes in ophthalmology, stated that "the patient started after seven months. To report signs of visual improvement ».
With the help of glasses, he can now locate, count and touch objects.
The two French organizations, which conducted the clinical trial jointly with the University of Pittsburgh, the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology in Basel (Switzerland), the Street Lab company, and the French Biotechnology Company, GenSight Biology, stated that “the technology of optogenetics that has existed for 20 years has revolutionized research. Fundamental in neuroscience, ”but this“ is the first time internationally that this innovative approach is being used in humans and its clinical benefits are being demonstrated. ”
Functional optic nerve
Professor José Alain Sahel, who founded the Instituto de la Vieux in 2009, which specializes in retinal diseases, explained that "the blind who suffer from various types of photoreceptor neurodegenerative diseases" but still have a "functional optic nerve", it is likely that they are " Qualified for treatment », noting that« the proposal to adopt this treatment will take some time ».
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