exciting study in paralysis treatment

[Guest guest]

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.