Long term outcomes of intracarotid arterial transfusion of circulatory-derived autologous CD34 + cells for acute ischemic stroke patients-A randomized, open-label, controlled phase II clinical trial.

Background: This phase II randomized controlled trial tested whether the intracarotid arterial administration (ICAA) of autologous CD34 + cells to patients within 14 ± 7 days after acute ischemic stroke (IS) could be safe and further improve short- and long-term outcomes.

Methods: Between January 2018 and March 2022, 28 consecutive patients were equally randomly allocated to the cell-treated group (CD34 + cells/3.0 × 10⁷/patient) or the control group (receiving optimal medical therapy). CD34 + cells were transfused into the ipsilateral brain infarct zone of cell-treated patients via the ICAA in the catheterization room.

Results: The results demonstrated 100% safety and success rates for the procedure, and no long-term tumorigenesis was observed in cell-treated patients. In cell-treated patients, the angiogenesis capacity of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs)/Matrigel was significantly greater after treatment than before treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (all p < 0.001). Blood samples from the right internal jugular vein of the cell-treated patients presented significantly greater levels of the stromal cell-derived factor 1α/EPC at 5, 10 and 30 min compared with 0 min (all p < 0.005). The National Institute of Health Stroke Scale scores were similar upon presentation, but a greater response was observed by Days 30 and 90 in the cell-treated group than in the control group. Tc-99 m brain perfusion was significantly greater at 180 days in the cell-treated group than in the control group (p = 0.046). The combined long-term end points (defined as death/recurrent stroke/or severe disability) were notably lower in the control group compared with the cell-treated group (14.3% vs. 50.0%, p = 0.103).

Conclusion: Intracarotid transfusion of autologous CD34 + cells is safe and might improve long-term outcomes in patients with acute IS. Trial registration ISRCTN, ISRCTN15677760. Registered 23 April 2018- Retrospectively registered, https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN15677760.