Re: exciting study in paralysis treatment

[Guest guest]

Kathi: that's so exciting. I wonder how long it will take to go from

the mouse model to human trials. I'd sure sign up.

Edith

> Hi all,

>

> I received an email from Dr. Gudesblat yesterday (on our Scientific

Advisory

> Board) making note of a new study just released indicating that a

combination

> of 3 meds resulted in a 70% return of function from spinal cord

injury in

> rats.

>

> This is exciting news, as there are common threads between

neurologic

> conditions and successes in spinal cord injury could very well help

out in our

> disorders, just like findings in our area could help spinal cord,

ALS, etc.

>

> So I checked out the CNN website to read the article. Parts of it

is below

> and the link to the full article is here:

> http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/24/paralysis.reut/index.html

>

> best,

> Kathi

>

> Exerpts from the article:

> MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) -- Rats with spinal cord injuries regained

70

> percent of their normal walking function with a three-part

treatment hailed as a

> breakthrough in paralysis research at the University of Miami

School of Medicine.

>

> The study at the university's Miami Project to Cure Paralysis,

produced

> results " by far greater than what we've seen in anything else, "

said the principal

> researcher, Dr. Bartlett Bunge.

>

> The spinal cord carries messages between the brain and the muscles

through a

> network of nerve cells. Normally, chemical signals prevent those

nerves from

> regrowing, resulting in paralysis when the network is severed by an

injury.

> Regrowing nerve cells and reconnecting them is the holy grail of

spinal cord

> research. The Miami study involved hundreds of animals with

crushing injuries to

> the thoracic region of the spinal cord, which mainly causes loss of

control of

> the legs.They transplanted cells known as Schwann cells from the

peripheral

> nerves, where regeneration does occur, to create a bridge across

the damaged

> area of the spinal cord and promote the growth of axons, the nerve

fibers that

> transmit messages.

>

> In earlier research, such grafts did promote the growth of new

nerve fibers

> across and through the damaged areas of the spinal cord, but they

stopped

> growing too soon. So researchers combined the grafts with two other

treatments --

> injections of cyclic AMP, a messenger molecule that guides the

nerve cells to

> grow their connecting fibers, and Rolipram, which prevents the

breakdown of

> cyclic AMP.

>

> After eight weeks, the rats that did not receive the treatment

could

> occasionally take a halting step but could not take one step after

another, Bunge

> said. Those that received the treatment had regained 70 percent of

their walking

> function. They could step consistently, and had better fine motor

control and

> coordination.

>

>

>