Spinal cord regeneration breakthrough

In a breakthrough development, US researchers have induced the regeneration of nerve connections that control voluntary movement after spinal cord injury, which could in the long term lead to a treatment for paralysis.

In a study on mice, the researchers manipulated an enzyme which regulates cell growth, which led to the re-growth of spinal cord nerves.

Earlier research into restoring cell growth in injured tissue found that blocking the same enzyme in mice enabled the regeneration of connections from the eye to the brain after optic nerve damage.

"Until now, such robust nerve regeneration has been impossible in the spinal cord," said Dr Oswald Steward of the University of California at Irvine.

"Paralysis and loss of function from spinal cord injury has been considered untreatable, but our discovery points the way toward a potential therapy to induce regeneration of nerve connections following spinal cord injury in people," Dr Steward added.

Even a minor injury can lead to a complete loss of body function below the level of the injury. For instance, a neck injury can cause paralysis of arms and legs, loss of bladder and bowel control, as well as secondary health risks such as infections, pressure sores and blood clots.

"These devastating consequences occur even though the spinal cord below the level of injury is intact," Dr Steward noted. "All these lost functions could be restored if we could find a way to regenerate the connections that were damaged."

The research took place at University of California at Irvine and San Diego and at Harvard University. The results appear online in Nature Neuroscience.

This article was published on Mon 9 August 2010