Canavero continues training
Rats were helped to restore the severed spinal cord
Anna Kaznadzei, N+1
Scientists from Harbin Medical University report that they were able to successfully restore the activity of the spinal cord of rats after cutting. Four weeks after the treatment of the incision site with polyethylene glycol, the rats were already taking steps, while the control rats were practically unable to move. The work can be found in the journal CNS Neuroscience and Therapeutics (Ren et al., Polyethylene glycol-induced motor recovery after total spinal transection in rats).
Restoration of the spinal cord in rats after cutting
and treatment with polyethylene glycol (control on the left)
We have already talked about the work of these scientists before – as part of the international HEAVEN/GEMINI collaboration, they are trying to restore the disturbed activity of the spinal cord in rodents and dogs, and then plan to transplant heads from paralyzed people to healthy bodies. The ultimate goal of the project is the effective fusion of all vital tissues, and the work on the restoration of the spinal cord serves as a preparation for this stage. The project meets a lot of criticism concerning, among other things, methods, control groups and the accuracy of the observed experimental conditions.
As part of this study, scientists worked with 15 rats who had a spinal cord intersection in the area of the tenth thoracic vertebra. The incision site in the control sample (consisting of six individuals) was treated with a salt solution, and in the remaining rats – with polyethylene glycol (PEG). It is known that this organic polymer is able to partially restore the functions of damaged neurons by sealing their membranes. Previous experiments to restore a completely severed spinal cord, however, have not shown significant results. The scientists hoped that in this case an important factor would be the time after which the processing procedure was done, and in this experiment they carried it out immediately after cutting.
The motor activity of rats was assessed on the Basso, Beatti and Bresnan scale (BBB). A score of less than 7 points implies stochastic rare movements, from 8 to 13 – poorly coordinated steps, and above 14 – coordinated limb movements. Observations were made for 28 days. All the animals survived, except for one control rat. In PEG rats, motor activity was constantly improving, and by the 28th day on the BBB scale it averaged 12 points (in some - up to 18). The rats consciously moved, and some even walked. In control rats, motor activity did not rise above 3 points – they could hardly move.
Neuroscientists who criticize this work point out that it does not provide evidence of complete severing of the spinal cord in the preparation of rats for the experiment, and it has not been found out whether the axons of damaged neurons were actually restored. At the same time, scientists note that at the end of the experiment, the spinal cord of rats was analyzed using somatosensory potential testing (SSEP) and found out that in the treated rats, the "gap" in the spinal cord disappeared, and in the control, on the contrary, it remained.
The authors consider this project to be a significant step in tissue healing technology and hope to continue their research, which may eventually become a threshold for head transplantation in paralyzed people. The first such operation is scheduled for late 2017 – early 2018.
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19.06.2017