Exciting News in Spinal Cord Injury Research

posted on Nov 19 by Sherri in the Disability News, Health, Healthcare, Interesting Links, Paralysis Cures, Spinal Cord Injury category

A wealth of new research and findings in the field of spinal cord injuries has occurred in November 2010. Here is an overview:

Extensive Natural Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury Uncovered in Primate Study

A study led by researchers in the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows unexpected and extensive natural recovery after spinal cord injury in primates, but not in all cases. The major difference seems to lie in the degree of injury: severe spinal cord injury versus milder injuries. The milder the injury, the better the adult rhesus monkeys were able to extensively and spontaneously re-grow connections in the spinal cord and thus more fully recover function. The question lies with what the physiological difference is in the body’s ability to heal the spinal cord based on degree of injury, and the findings may one day lead to the development of new treatments for patients with spinal cord injuries.  (Read more)

Origin of Cells Associated With Nerve Repair Discovered

Scientists have discovered the origin of a unique type of cell known for its ability to support regeneration in the central nervous system. Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) protect the nerve fibers in the olfactory nerve, transmitting olfactory (smell) information to the brain from receptor cells sitting in the nasal lining; they can also promote nerve repair when transplanted into the damaged spinal cord. The main problem with using OECs has been that they occur in such small quantities in the nasal lining and retrieving them can cause damage. Now researchers have discovered that OECs are actually derived from a group of embryonic stem cells called “neural crest cells.” Neural crest stem cells persist in adult skin and hair follicles, and other researchers have already shown that it is possible to isolate these stem cells and grow them in the lab. Their findings raise the possibility of obtaining a more reliable source of these cells for use in cell transplantation therapy for spinal cord injuries.  (Read more)

Spleen Might Be Source of Damaging Cells at Spinal Cord Injury Site

The spleen helps the body to fight infections and might also be a source of the cells that end up doing more harm than good at the site of a spinal cord injury. After a spinal cord injury, when the spinal cord’s own cells and other cells join to protect the wound, some cells end up promoting inflammation, which can exacerbate the effects of the injury. Most research in this area has explored the bone marrow as a source of these pro-inflammatory cells, called macrophages, but some previous studies have suggested that the spleen is another source. Considering the spleen’s role in the after-effects of spinal cord injury could change the way researchers pursue potential treatments for severe spinal cord injuries.   (Read more)

Study Seeks New Way to Enhance Neuron Repair in Spinal Cord Injury

If researchers could determine how to send signals to cells responding to a spinal cord injury, they might be able to stop one type of cell from doing additional damage at the injury site and instead, coax it into helping nerve cells grow. Now scientists are trying to determine how to simultaneously stop damage and promote neuron growth with a single, targeted signal. After a spinal cord injury, macrophages (a type of white blood cell) travel to the injury site from at least three known locations in the body as part of an intense inflammatory response, which can exacerbate effects of the original injury. Now some researchers believe that these same cells might also offer hope for restoration of function in people with injured spinal cords.  (Read more)

Some Kids With Spinal Cord Injury May Be Overlooked for Walking Rehabilitation

The traditional way to predict whether children can regain movement after spinal cord injuries may exclude a small subset of patients who could benefit from therapy, according to two studies presented by University of Florida researchers at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego. Currently, no rehabilitation approach exists to restore walking in children or adults with the most severe of spinal cord injuries. In this current study of injured children who had been overlooked and later given the opportunity to receive rehabilitation and who went on to show signs of improvement, results suggest locomotor training and walking recovery may be linked to the development of other rhythmic lower extremity tasks that promote development.  (Read more)

Titan Spine Receives Regulatory Clearance to Launch Endoskeleton® TO

Titan Spine, a developer of interbody fusion implants, announced today that it has received FDA clearance to commercially release its Endoskeleton® TO system, which consists of a line of interbody devices placed through a Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (PLIF) approach and incorporates a unique roughened Titanium surface that participates in the bone fusion process. The company plans to commercially release the product beginning in December 2010.  (Read more)

Covington Iraq Vet Becomes First to Receive Stem Cell Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury

TCA Cellular Therapy got FDA approval in March to be the first researchers to take the healing stem cells out of an adult with a spinal cord injury, multiply them in a lab to 50 million, store them in special tanks, and then later infuse them back into the patient’s own spinal fluid in hopes that they will travel to the injured part of the spine and repair it. The researchers chose as their first subject a young marine, who has been living with a shrapnel-related spinal cord injury since May 2005. In the two months since the spinal infusion, he has begun to feel tingling and other deep muscle sensations. TCA Cellular Therapy’s trial is still ongoing and actively recruiting new subjects.  (Read more)