Friday July 21, 2006
Spinal Cord Injuries Improved Years Later with Patients’ Own Olfactory Cells
By Hilary White
LISBON, July 21, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A team of researchers from
Hospital de Egas, Lisbon, Portugal and Wayne State University Medical
School in Michigan, USA, have shown that stem cells taken from the
olfactory mucosa can be used successfully to treat spinal cord
injuries, even years after the injury occurred.
A report published by the American Paraplegia Society says that seven
patients, ranging in age from 18 to 32 years, who suffered severe
spinal cord injuries as much as six and half years before, were treated
with stem-like progenitor and ensheathing cells derived from the
olfactory mucosa.
The cells were cultivated and engrafted onto lesions on the patients’
spinal cord. Subsequent MRI scans showed “moderate to complete filling
of the lesion sites.” The report says that two patients experienced
return of sensation in their bladders and one a return of limited anal
control. All the patients experienced some improvement in motor
abilities.
The olfactory mucosa is the region of the nasal passage where highly
specialized cells detect odours. The olfactory ensheathing cells have
been found to behave in much the same way as stem cells from more
traditional sources such as bone marrow, but are easier to obtain.
In 2005, a small team of Australian researchers, funded partly by a
grant from the Catholic Church, published a paper showing that
olfactory stem cells can be induced to become heart cells, brain cells
and nerve cells, without immune system rejection or formation of
tumours.
The Lisbon study’s authors concluded that their work showed that spinal
cord injuries treated with cells derived from the patient’s own body
“is feasible, relatively safe, and potentially beneficial.”
The olfactory mucosa as a source of stem cells is of interest to
medical researchers because it is the only part of the body’s nervous
system capable of life-long regeneration that is readily accessible
with minimal invasive techniques.
Dr. Alan Mackay-Sim, the lead researcher in the Australian study said
that it is an under-examined field. “Whenever I presented a paper, the
feedback I would get was that our work was 'interesting but weird'.”
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Australian Research Team Finds Stem Cell Gold in the Nose
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/mar/05032208.html
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