Mitochondria from 26-year-old woman’s leg muscles injected in eyes

A preprint case report published on Research Square has described how a 26-year-old woman’s pupillary response temporarily returned after she received a mitochondrial transplantation following a brain bleed.

The patient’s healthy muscle mitochondria were transplanted into each eye 24-hours apart.

The transplantation procedure took place three months after the woman developed bilateral optic neuropathy following a brain bleed.

The researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Boston Children's Hospital and University of Washington reported that the transplantation was – to their knowledge – the first administration of isolated mitochondria to the human eye.

“Mitochondrial transplantation delivers viable, respiration-competent mitochondria into tissue whose own mitochondria have been damaged. It has been performed in the human heart and brain,” the report authors explained.

The researchers found that the procedure was safe – with neither eye developing intraocular inflammation.

The patient’s pupillary response temporarily returned, although the procedure did not affect measurable visual acuity.

Reflecting on the findings of the case report, the researchers highlighted: “Intravitreal administration of fresh autologous mitochondria was feasible, was performed to specification, and was tolerated without ocular or systemic toxicity.”