A research team cured rats with spinal injuries using stem cell injections.
An international team of researchers led by Martin Marsala, a professor in the Department of Anesthesiology of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, shows that neural stem cells derived from a human fetal spinal cord produced neuronal regeneration and improvement of function and mobility in rats impaired by an acute spinal cord injury. Among the therapeutic benefits of the stem cell injection were improved positioning and control of paws during walking tests and a decrease in muscle spasticity, which is a complication of traumatic injury to the spinal cord.
During the study, the rats received the pure stem cell grafts three days after the injury and were given drugs to suppress an immune response to the foreign stem cells. According to Marsala, the grafted neural stem cells, which are rich source of different growth factors, seemed to promote the sprouting of the nerve fibers of the host neurons. They also appeared to replace the function of lost neurons by developing contacts with the host neurons and, to some extent, restoring the connectivity between centers, above and below the injury, which are involved in motor and sensory processing.
Using a line of human embryonic stem cells recently approved for Phase 1 human trials in patients with chronic traumatic spinal injuries, the researchers were able to develop neural precursor cells from human-induced pluripotent stem cells, which would likely become an alternative for immunosuppressants.
Presently, the study is still subject for approval of the University of California, San Diego's Institutional Review Board. However, according to Joseph Ciacci, professor of surgery and program director of the Neurosurgery Residency at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, in the event when the initial study confirms safety and efficacy, as well as neuronal regeneration and suppression of spasticity, the procedure can be done to patients with other forms of severe spinal cord injury.
The result of the study was published in May 28 on the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy.
