New research published by North-western University has demonstrated their novel medicines are capable of healing the damaged spinal cords of mice through the injection of a gel into its spines.
This gel contains the components necessary to aid the reattachment of severed neurons in the spinal cord. The gel also emits signals quintessential to assist nerve regeneration and was found to reduce scar tissue – which normally acts as a physical barrier to impede nerve regeneration. It also led to angiogenesis, the synthesis of new blood vessels, ensuring new neuronal connections were richly perfused with blood and nutrients to sustain their continued survival.
The mice were first assigned scores based on their ankle movement, body stability, and paw placement. They were then treated with the gel for four weeks before their scores were once again assessed. The researchers found that mice treated with the gel had significant increases in all of the aforementioned measures of mobility and were capable of walking again, whereas mice treated with the placebo had no change in any of the measured motor abilities.
The aim of this research, according to lead senior researcher Samuel Stupp, was to find a therapy that could be applied to treat patients suffering from paralysis sustained from either a major trauma or a degenerative neurological disease.
Stupp stated that this method of regeneration was much safer than other methods previously researched such as the delivery of modified proteins or genetic engineering, in addition to being a lot more reliable.
However, it is worth noting that despite these promising results this has only been trialed in a mice model, and although Stupp is confident that these results will, in time, be translated into a human model, modern science is not there quite yet. It is, however, a promising step forward in the field of regenerative medicine.
