Stem Cell Therapy Restores Sensation for Patients Paralyzed by Spinal Injury
Three people with paralysis received injections of 20 million neural stem cells directly into the injured region of their spinal cord. The cells, acquired from donated fetal brain tissue, were injected between four and eight months after the injuries happened. The patients also received a temporary course of immunosuppressive drugs to limit rejection of the cells.
None of the three felt any sensation below their nipples before the treatment. Six months after therapy, two of them had sensations of touch and heat between their chest and belly button. The third patient has not seen any change.
“The fact we’ve seen responses to light touch, heat and electrical impulses so far down in two of the patients is very unexpected,” says Stephen Huhn of StemCells, the company in Newark, California, developing and testing the treatment. “They’re really close to normal in those areas now in their sensitivity,” he adds. “We are very intrigued to see that patients have gained considerable sensory function,” says Armin Curt of Balgrist University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, where the patients were treated, and principal investigator in the trial.
(via Stem cells bring back feeling for paralysed patients - health - 03 September 2012 - New Scientist)
Paralyzed Cyborg Rats Trained to Walk Again (Without Exo-Suits) by Re-Routing Spinal Pathways: Could Work on Humans
This is different from other robotically mediated paralysis therapy we saw recently involving brain-derived motor control. In that study, human patients wore a cranial device that tapped into their thoughts to control a robotic arm. In this case, the treatment is physiological, inducing dormant neurons to forge new connections and move limbs directly.
First, Courtine and colleagues injected the rats with a chemical cocktail that binds to dopamine, adrenaline and serotonin receptors on the spinal cord’s neurons. This replaced the neurotransmitters that would normally be released in healthy spinal pathways.
A few minutes after priming the neurons, the team stimulated the rats’ spinal cords through electrodes implanted into the spinal canal. This sent electrical signals to the roused neurons. Then the rats needed to be trained to use their limbs again. Within a week of their injuries, the rats were on treadmills, forging new neural connections.
Scientists Regrow Severed Nerve Connections in Rats
Until the last few decades, it was generally thought that damage to the spinal cord was permanent, as the nerves within our vertebrae stubbornly resist regrowing severed connections after injuries. But a number of studies have helped us understand why exactly it is that the nerves refuse to grow, raising the prospect that we could use this knowledge to intervene and help repair damage to the spine. In the latest indication that progress is being made in these efforts, researchers have used a combination of enzyme treatments and grafts to restore breathing activity in rats that had had their spinal connections completely severed.
(via Enzyme and graft combo restores lung function after spinal injury)
