Spinal Cord Injury News

A collection of posts on news, information and resources for those with spinal cord injuries.

New Injection Technique May Boost Spinal Cord Injury Repair

Efforts In rodent studies, method reduced likelihood of further spinal cord trauma while delivering large doses of potentially reparative stem cells; the approach may have utility for multiple neurodegenerative conditions.

Injection Site — A micrograph shows effective migration of subpially injected human oligodendrocytes (a type of support cell in the central nervous system, colored here in green) into the spinal cord gray matter (left) and into the cerebellum (right) of an immunodeficient rat. Red indicates signal for oligodendrocyte marker; blue is signal for neuronal marker.

Writing in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine, an international research team, led by physician-scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, describe a new method for delivering neural precursor cells (NSCs) to spinal cord injuries in rats, reducing the risk of further injury and boosting the propagation of potentially reparative cells.

Posted in Research for a Cure on January 31st, 2020.

Paralysis Implant Shows Promise Outside Lab

Dr. Jonathan Jagid, chief of functional neurosurgery and researcher at University of Miami Health System, discusses a study in partnership with The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis that translates thoughts into movement for patients with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Posted in Research for a Cure, Therapies and Procedures on January 3rd, 2020.

Research Team Identifies Potential Target for Restoring Movement After Spinal Cord Injury

Potential Movement Targets in Spinal Cord Injuries — (a) Both lumbar MNs and higher motor centers, including the corticospinal (CST), rubrospinal (RST) and descending propriospinal (dPST) tracts, are required to initiate and maintain locomotor function in normal conditions.(b) Thoracic contusions at T9 abolish the CST and RST, but spare the dPST projections below the injury, leading to lumbar motoneuron (MN) dendritic atrophy and locomotor dysfunction. (c) Modulation of propriospino-MN circuits by neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) gene therapy with a peripheral delivery route relays the supraspinal commands from the CST and RST down to the lumbar cord that enables locomotor recovery. Credit: IU School of Medicine

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have made several novel discoveries in the field of spinal cord injuries (SCI). Most recently, the team led by Xiao-Ming Xu, PhD, has been working to determine how to activate movement after a spinal cord injury at the ninth thoracic level, where nerve fibers from the brain down to the spinal cord are interrupted. Instead of focusing on the injury site, researcher Qi Han and his colleagues modulated the spared lumbar circuits below the injury to improve recovery from SCI, using animal models. The team revealed that neuromodulation of interrupted lumbar motor circuits by neurotrophic therapy improved locomotor performance. These findings are being published in the December 20 issue of Nature Communications. “There are no definitive treatments yet for SCI patients,” said Han. “However, hope for restoring motor function continues to rise, for good reason. We find that, despite no direct damage from thoracic SCI, the lumbar circuit undergoes a profound neurodegeneration, which we have highlighted as a promising new therapeutic target for promoting neuroprotection.”

Posted in Uncategorized on December 21st, 2019.

Advancements in Spinal Cord Research Give the Severely Injured Hope

Posted in Research for a Cure, Therapies and Procedures on December 19th, 2019.

Stroke Drug Boosts Stem Cell Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury in Rats

Four months after treating them, Yasuhiro Shiga, MD, PhD, checked on his rats. Walking into the lab, he carried minimal expectations. Treating spinal cord injuries with stem cells had been tried by many people, many times before, with modest success at best. The endpoint he was specifically there to measure — pain levels — hadn’t seemed to budge in past efforts.

Posted in Uncategorized on December 18th, 2019.
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