Olfactory nerve cells restored the human spinal cord

Paralyzed returned mobility injections of olfactory cells

Copper newsA man paralyzed below the chest as a result of a stab wound in the back was able to start walking thanks to innovative therapy conducted by an international group of scientists, the BBC reports (Paralyzed man walks again after cell transplant).

According to the results of the study published in the journal Cell Transplantation (Tabakow et al., Functional regeneration of supraspinal connections in a patient with transected spinal cord following transplantation of bulbar olfactory enheathing cells with peripheral nerve bridging clinical indication of beneficial effects of transplanted autologous bulbar cells, in the public domain – VM), the sensitivity of the legs returned to the man transplantation into the spinal cord of nerve cells from the nasal cavity.

As a result of the incident in 2010, forty-year-old Darek Fidika was completely paralyzed below the chest. For two years after the injury, the patient remained motionless without any symptoms of improvement, despite many months of intensive physical therapy.

Animal studies have already shown that injections of shell cells isolated from olfactory nerves into the spinal cord of paralyzed rats are able to restore nerve transmission and relieve paralysis. Now, for the first time in the world, Polish surgeons, together with scientists from London, have used olfactory nerve sheath cells, which are involved in the formation of olfaction, to restore the patient's condition. The part of the nervous system responsible for the sense of smell regenerates throughout a person's life, which is why the researchers decided to use them to repair spinal cord injuries.

Spinal cord recovery consisted of several stages:

1. Surgeons removed one of the two olfactory bulbs from the patient in order to isolate the olfactory nerve sheath cells from it and grow them in the laboratory. 
2. Two weeks later, the paralyzed man began to have microinjections of cells grown in the laboratory (a total of about 500 thousand cells) above and below the area where the spinal cord was damaged due to a knife strike.
3. Four "strips" of nervous tissue were placed in the spinal cord across an eight-millimeter gap.

As a result, three months later, the patient developed sensitivity in the hip area, and six months after treatment, he had already taken his first steps along the bars with the support of a physiotherapist. Now, two years after the operation, Fidika can leave the rehabilitation center with the help of a special frame. In addition, he partially regained bladder and bowel control and sexual function.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that the rupture in the patient's spinal cord disappeared. "It's amazing to see how spinal cord repair, which was considered impossible for many years, is becoming a reality," said Pawel Tabakow, neurosurgeon and head of the Polish research group. Now scientists plan to test this technique on ten other patients from Poland and the UK.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru22.10.2014