Stem Cell Therapy for Early Alzheimer's Disease

NCT ID: NCT06775964

Last Updated: 2026-02-02

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: PHASE1/PHASE2
• Total Enrollment: 12 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2026-02-28
• Study Completion Date: 2027-01-31

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if stem cell therapy works to treat brain inflammation in adults. Inflammation in the brain may be involved in adults who have memory or thinking problems. The stem cells will be taken from participant's fat samples, processed and given back to participants, so they are their own donor. The main questions this trial aims to answer are:

• Does stem cell therapy reduce inflammation in the brain?
• Does stem cell therapy improve brain activity?
• Does stem cell therapy slow down progression to Alzheimer's disease?

Participants will:

• Have a small fat biopsy taken at a doctor's office to process stem cells
• Receive 4 infusions of stem cells, through a vein in the arm over 12 weeks
• Visit the clinic every 2-4 weeks for the first 4 months and then every 1-2 months for 8 months for checkups and tests

Detailed Description

This is a Phase 1b/2a open label study to assess the safety and tolerability, as well as reduction of neuroinflammation after four IV-infusions of autologous, adipose-derived, Mesenchymal Stem Cells (adMSCs) over a 13-week treatment period in 12 subjects who are clinically diagnosed with late pre-symptomatic or prodromal AD, exhibit an Alzheimer's pathology and peripheral inflammatory profile.

To date, most drugs for AD primarily treat symptoms. Moreover, several anti-amyloid antibodies have reduced amyloid burden, but have only modestly affected cognitive progression, suggesting that other pathways are also important for AD progression. Neuroinflammation may be important for AD progression. The discovery of increased levels of inflammatory markers in patients at different clinical stages of AD, and the iden-tification of AD risk genes associated with innate immune functions, suggest that neuroinflammation may affect AD pathogenesis, making it an optimal candidate for targeted therapy to reduce disease progression. In this study, we aim to treat neuroinflammation with autologous adMSCs. These cells may represent a superior therapeutic alternative for AD be-cause they exhibit multi-therapeutic effects, including anti-inflammatory properties, reduced amyloid-β activity, and neurogenesis, which collec-tively, may reduce disease progression and improve brain activity. In addition, autologous adMSCs demonstrate low immunogenicity, which limits Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) during cell administration. Furthermore, our preclinical and clinical studies with adMSCs have shown that they are safe and effective at reducing inflammation and improving cognitive outcomes. A positive outcome would result in a paradigm shift in the treatment of AD that could potentially be a standard of care.

Conditions

Cognitive Dysfunction

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

adMSC

IV-infusions of autologous, adipose-derived, Mesenchymal Stem Cells (adMSCs)

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

adMSC

Intervention Type: BIOLOGICAL

IV-infusion of autologous, adipose-derived, Mesenchymal Stem Cells (adMSCs), of approximately 2x10(8) adMSCs in 250mL saline.

Interventions

adMSC

IV-infusion of autologous, adipose-derived, Mesenchymal Stem Cells (adMSCs), of approximately 2x10(8) adMSCs in 250mL saline.

Intervention Type: BIOLOGICAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. Has signed an informed consent form before any assessment is performed as part of the study.

2. Be male or female between 60 and 80 years old.

3. Subject has been or is in process of being clinically diagnosed with late pre-symptomatic or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD (prodromal AD).

4. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of ≥ 22

5. Has an MRI to evaluate AD pathology (may use previous if within 6mo.)

6. Has APOE status to evaluate AD pathology (may use previous result)

7. Proficiency in English is required because cognitive tests are administered in English only.

8. Has evidence of brain amyloidosis via PET Scan or Aβ42/40 ratios in CSF.

9. Has evidence of peripheral inflammatory profile based on CRP (≥ 8 mg/L), IL-6 (≥ 3.1 pg/mL), TNF-α (10 pg/mL), or erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (≥20 mm/h) in blood assays.

10. Is in the opinion of the Investigator, in good general medical health based upon medical history, physical examination, laboratory tests, vital signs and EKG.

Exclusion Criteria

1. Current medical or neurological condition that might impact cognition or performance on cognitive assessments. (e.g., traumatic brain injury (TBI), Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple sclerosis, etc.)

2. Inability or unwillingness of patient to undergo neuropsychological testing.

3. Advanced, severe, progressive or unstable disease that may interfere with the safety, tolerability and study assessments, or put the subject at special risk. (e.g., significant cardiac disease, severe renal impairment, severe hepatic impairment, autoimmune disease, etc.)

4. History of malignancy of any organ system within the past 60 months, that in the opinion of the investigator would impede evaluation or interpretation of subject safety or study results.

5. Females of childbearing potential must not be pregnant.

6. Inability or unwillingness to undergo PET Scans.

7. Inability or unwillingness to undergo MRI Scans.

8. Positive blood test for either HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C or Syphilis

9. Positive for TSPO SNP rs6971

10. Inability or unwillingness to undergo Lumbar Punctures.

11. Inability or unwillingness to undergo infusions.

12. Any condition, which in the opinion of the investigator, would put the subject at undue risk or would interfere with evaluation of the investigational product or interpretation of subject safety or study results.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 60 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 80 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Weston Brain Institute

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Paul E Schulz

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Paul E Schulz

Principal Investigator, Director, Memory Disorders and Dementia Clinic, Professor of Neurology, Professor of Neurodegenerative Disorders

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Paul E Schulz, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Locations

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)

Houston, Texas, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Harshali Patel

Role: CONTACT

Harshali.Patel@uth.tmc.edu

713-486-0531

Javier Ortiz, PhD

Role: CONTACT

Guadalupe.J.Ortiz@uth.tmc.edu

713-486-0505

Facility Contacts

Javier Ortiz, PhD

Role: primary

Guadalupe.J.Ortiz@uth.tmc.edu

713-486-0505

Christine Farrell, PhD

Role: backup

Christine.M.Farrell@uth.tmc.edu

713-486-0527

Other Identifiers

HSC-MS-24-0516

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id